Name? Samia Suluhu Hassan
Westphalian identity? Tanzanian
Age? 66
Why is she in the news? On Wednesday 21 October, prosecutors under President Samia Suluhu Hassan charged John Pambalu, the elections director of Chadema,—Tanzania’s main opposition party—with treason at Dar es Salaam’s Kisutu court. Under Tanzanian Penal Code, treason carries the death penalty. The charge sheet accuses Pambalu of trying to “persuade the public to cause obstruction” to the October 2025 election through “endless protests” meant to intimidate Hassan’s government, making him the second Chadema leader charged with treason.
Why do we care? Hassan won the election on 29 October 2025 with 97.66% of the vote after delaying constitutional reform and seeing Chadema barred from running. Her own inquiry counted 518 deaths in the post-election unrest, while the opposition and rights groups put the toll near 2,000. One year on, her courts are pursuing protest organisers, while that inquiry named no one responsible and a second commission is still searching.
Why should you care? If you live in the EU, your taxes help fund Hassan’s government. In June, the European Parliament demanded that the European Commission withdraw its €156 million support package for Tanzania, money meant for basic services and civil society, over the election violence. The Commission has yet to decide whether European money keeps flowing to Dodoma, while Hassan keeps charging her critics.
Who else cares? Chadema chairman Tundu Lissu, Hassan’s main rival, who has been detained since April 2025, is on trial for treason over remarks at a party meeting. The High Court will deliver its verdict on 6 November. A conviction would remove Hassan’s most prominent challenger from politics for good. An acquittal would weaken the prosecution’s case against Pambalu and every Chadema official who follows him.
Any further comments? In 2023, Hassan, Tanzania’s first female president, won praise for lifting her late predecessor John Magufuli’s seven-year ban on opposition rallies; three years later, organising a protest could carry a death sentence.
