Tundu Lissu Cleared of Treason in Tanzania but Convicted of Incitement

Tanzania’s High Court has delivered the Tundu Lissu treason acquittal, clearing the country’s leading opposition figure of the capital charge but convicting him of incitement, in a verdict that closes the most serious count in a case that fuelled the worst political unrest in Tanzania’s history.

FAKTA

• Verdict: Tundu Lissu, 58, chairman of the opposition party CHADEMA, was acquitted of treason and convicted of incitement by the High Court in Dar es Salaam on Friday, 6 November 2026.
• The judges: A three-judge panel led by Justice Dunstan Ndunguru, with Justices James Karayemaha and Ferdinand Kiwonde, delivered the decision.
• The treason charge: Brought under Section 39(2)(d) of Tanzania’s Penal Code, it carries the death penalty. The court found no evidence to convict Lissu on that count.
• The incitement charge: Lissu was found guilty over remarks in a speech in which prosecutors said he told supporters the opposition would “block the election” and “mobilise rebellion”.
• In custody: Lissu has been detained since his arrest in April 2025. The sentence on the incitement conviction has yet to be announced, and he has leave to appeal to the Court of Appeal.

Tundu Lissu treason acquittal: what the court decided

The three-judge panel ruled that the prosecution had failed to establish a key element of the treason charge, clearing Lissu of the gravest offence under Tanzanian law. Treason can carry the death penalty, so the acquittal spared him the most severe punishment available to the court.

On the lesser charge, the judges found Lissu guilty of incitement over remarks he made while campaigning for electoral reform ahead of the disputed general election of October 2025. Prosecutors said the speech urged supporters to block the election and mobilise rebellion.

Lissu, who leads CHADEMA, Tanzania’s main opposition party, pleaded not guilty throughout the trial. He argued that his speech did not violate any law and that the charges were politically motivated.

The judges were still delivering their full judgment when the verdict was reported, and the sentence on the incitement conviction had not yet been announced.

A case that shook Tanzania’s election year

Lissu was arrested in April 2025 after delivering a public address calling for electoral reform, and was charged with treason in a case that helped fuel the worst political unrest in the country’s history during the October 2025 elections. His arrest, along with alleged abductions of government critics and CHADEMA’s disqualification from the vote, was a key driver of the protests that broke out during last year’s elections.

Final submissions in the case concluded on 29 September 2026, with the High Court scheduling judgment for 6 November. Lissu, a lawyer and former member of parliament for Singida East from 2010 to 2020, has long been one of Tanzania’s most prominent opposition voices. In September 2017 he survived an assassination attempt in Dodoma, when gunmen shot him 16 times.

What happens next

The incitement conviction means the proceedings are not yet fully concluded. The sentence and the judges’ complete legal reasoning are expected to clarify Lissu’s immediate legal position, and his legal team has indicated that an appeal is planned.

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