The United States has launched a sweeping review of its relationship with Tanzania following a violent post-election crackdown that has drawn international outrage and cast a shadow over President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s overwhelming victory in the October 29 polls.
In a sharply worded statement issued on Thursday, the US government said it was “comprehensively reviewing” its dealings with Dodoma, citing killings and excessive use of force by security agencies against protesters who took to the streets after the election. Washington warned that the actions “raise grave concerns about the direction of our bilateral relationship and the reliability of the Tanzanian Government as a partner.”
The State Department pointed to a growing list of concerns, including repression of free speech and religious freedom, barriers facing American investors, and what it described as disturbing violence before and after the vote.
“These actions have put American citizens, tourists, and US interests in Tanzania at risk, and threatened to undermine the mutual prosperity and security that have defined our partnership for decades,” the statement said. “The United States cannot overlook actions that jeopardise the safety of our citizens, or the security and stability of the region.”
The review deals a political blow to President Samia, who had spent much of her first term repairing ties with Washington after years of friction under her predecessor, the late John Pombe Magufuli. Her government had succeeded in reopening dialogue with US agencies, attracting back tourists and restoring the interest of the Millennium Challenge Corporation, which had frozen engagement during the Magufuli years.
But her landslide win, secured with 97.66 percent of the vote, has been overshadowed by allegations of repression, disqualifications of opposition candidates, and a hard-line response to demonstrations. African election observers have also criticised the security forces’ conduct, warning of a shrinking civic space in a country long seen as one of the region’s more stable democracies.
Just two days before Washington’s announcement, President Samia doubled down on her defence of the crackdown. Speaking to elders in Dar es Salaam, she repeated claims that foreign actors were working with opposition figures to engineer a regime change — accusations her administration has frequently made without offering evidence.
“Our youth were manipulated, becoming mere parrots, singing songs and attempting to recreate what happened in Madagascar so that it would occur here,” she said. She dismissed accusations of excessive force and argued that the security services responded to a real threat, asking, “What would constitute appropriate force?”
The government has offered no comprehensive casualty figures, even as opposition groups claim the toll runs into the thousands — a figure authorities dispute but have not addressed with transparency.
A CNN investigation found that security forces fired at unarmed protesters and buried victims in unmarked graves, intensifying calls for an independent inquiry.
The run-up to the election was marked by sweeping restrictions on the opposition. Chadema, Tanzania’s main opposition party, was barred from fielding any candidates months before the vote, and its leader Tundu Lissu was charged with treason, a capital offence. ACT-Wazalendo, another leading party, also saw its presidential hopeful disqualified despite a court order directing the electoral commission to reinstate him.
With Washington now signalling that future cooperation will depend on the government’s actions, Tanzania faces rising diplomatic pressure at a moment when its domestic politics are under the microscope. The coming weeks are expected to determine whether Dodoma can de-escalate tensions or whether the US will take further steps that could reshape a partnership stretching back decades.
