Tanzania's opposition presidential aspirant gets a thondorous 'Kingsize' welcome

By Osoro Nyawangah, DAR ES SALAAM

Thousands supporters of Tanzania’s main opposition party CHADEMA today July 27 thronged the Julius Nyerere International Airport dressed in party colours waving party flags as they welcome home former Singida East Member of Parliament and party’s Vice-Chairman for Tanzania Mainland, Tundu Lissu.

Lissu who landed at the airport this afternoon, has been out of the country for three years undergoing treatment in Belgium following several gunshots he received while in Dodoma in September, 2017.

Flanked with the party Chairman, Freeman Mbowe and Secretary General John Mnyika, the jovial an energetic politician came out  of the arrival lounge meeting an uncontrollable warm ‘King-size’ welcome chanting, President!, President!, President!

Other members knelt down praying and praising God for bringing him back alive and walking. “Thanks God we have seen miracles………thanks God for bringing him back walking again……” They chanted.

Limping presidential aspirant effectively waved back to the cheering crowd before boarding an open-roof car driving to the party's headquarters in the city centre accompanied with a long procession involving motorcycles and cars.

From belgium, he is accompanied by a delegation of eminent persons from reputable international organisations in Europe and the USA to ensure his safe arrival at Dar es Salaam.

Prior to his arrival, there have been verbal exchanges between the police force and the opposition party, with the former warning the latter against mobilising people to gather at the Dar es Salaam airport with the aim of cheering Lissu’s arrival.

On Saturday, police issued a statement warning against any assembly at the airport for the purpose of welcoming Lissu, who is also one of the presidential aspirants through Chadema.

But that notwithstanding, thousands of the opposition party supporters flocked to the airport and cheered the homecoming of their leader who narrowly escaped an assassination attempt.

Surprisingly, the police force allowed them in and contrary to widely-held expectations, there was no any form of confrontation between the opposition party supporters and the law enforcing organs.

 After a failed assassination attempt in 2017, Lissu was airlifted from the capital city of Dodoma to hospital in Nairobi, Kenya before he was transferred to Belgium for specialized treatment.

The outspoken politician doubles as former President of Tanganyika Laws Society (TLS) and CHADEMA's head of legal affairs department.

Through his agents, Lissu has collected the party's presidential nomination forms, seeking the opposition party's endorsement in order to challenge President John Magufuli’s re-election bid during the October 28, General Election.

He was supposed to have flown back home in September 2019 but he postponed his trip on security grounds. The security concerns prevail, and the the world closely watching his homecoming. 

Committee on the human rights of parliamentarians IPU has urged the authorities in Tanzania to ensure the safety of Lissu. The IPU recently expressed its deep concern about the attempt on his life, revocation of his parliamentary mandate and legal charges brought against him. - Africa