Exiled Tanzania opposition stalwart returns with demand for 'new constitution'

By Our correspondent, DAR ES SALAAM Tanzania

Tanzanian opposition stalwart Tundu Lissu arrived back in his homeland on Wednesday to a rousing welcome from supporters after spending most of the past five years in exile following an assassination attempt.

The one-time presidential candidate was greeted by supporters in the red, white and blue colours of his Chadema party, our correspondent said.

Lissu, who was shot 16 times in 2017 in assassination attempt and spent most of the years since in Belgium, arrived on a flight from Brussels via Addis Ababa.

Thousands of supporters waving flags and blowing vuvuzela horns formed a 15-kilometre (10 miles) procession from the Julius Nyerere International airport to Temeke, for the grand welcoming rally.

The 55-year-old, wearing a tan suit and dark sunglasses, beamed at the crowd from the sunroof of a car and shook hands with supporters as it crawled into the city centre.

The former legislature's return follows President Samia Hassan's announcement this month that a ban on political rallies imposed by her hardline predecessor John Magufuli would be lifted, in an overture to the opposition.

Addressing the cheering crowd  today, Lissu call for unified push for new constitution and independent electoral commission before 2025 general elections.

"Without new constitution, nothing will be done. We can't have fair and free elections if we don't have independent commission that also can be in place if we have new constitution." He insisted.

He said the governance problems, poverty, health and debt burden facing Tanzania are caused by the current constitution. 

He told his supporters that it is possible to have the new constitution before 2025 if the stakeholders agree to come together and force the government to initiate the process.

Lissu told opposition members that the urge to write new constitution started 30 years back but the ruling party have been reluctant implement it for fear of loosing election. "I am optimistic that we will write a new chapter this year... 2023 is an important year in the history of our country, support us with whatever you have to reach our goal." He said.

Last Saturday, Chadema held its first mass rally since the lifting of the 2016 ban, led by its leader Freeman Mbowe in the lakeside city of Mwanza. The political activities’ ban was imposed in 2016 by Magufuli at the onset of his first term in office, which was marked by the imposition of draconian rules.

The government's olive branch was cautiously welcomed by rights groups and the opposition as a boost for democracy, with Hassan overturning some of the authoritarian policies imposed by John Magufuli.