Tanzania’s High Court has ruled that opposition leader Tundu Lissu has a case to answer in his treason trial, clearing the way for the long-running case to enter the defence stage.
A three-judge panel delivered the ruling on Friday, August 21, 2026, after prosecutors presented evidence and called 17 witnesses against the chairman of the opposition Chama cha Demokrasia na Maendeleo (Chadema).
Judge Dunstan Ndunguru, who led the bench alongside Justices James Karayemaha and Ferdinand Kiwonde, said the prosecution had established a case requiring Lissu to respond to the allegations.
“The court rules that the prosecution established a case which the accused needs to answer,” Judge Ndunguru said.
The decision means Lissu will now be required to present his defence against the treason charge.
Lissu faces potential death penalty
Lissu was arrested in April 2025 and charged with treason over statements prosecutors allege were intended to incite the public to disrupt or prevent Tanzania’s 2025 general election.
The charge is particularly serious because treason is a capital offence in Tanzania and carries the death penalty upon conviction. Lissu has remained in detention for about 14 months during the proceedings.
Prosecutors have alleged that statements made by Lissu in the run-up to the election amounted to incitement against the government and an attempt to prevent the electoral process from proceeding.
The opposition leader has denied the allegations and has argued that the prosecution failed to establish a sufficient case against him.
The prosecution closed its case earlier this week after presenting 17 witnesses from an original list of 30. Lissu subsequently made submissions asking the court to find that he had no case to answer.
Lissu seeks senior officials as defence witnesses
Lissu, who has been representing himself in court, has indicated that he intends to call several senior government officials as defence witnesses.
Among those he wants summoned is President Samia Suluhu Hassan.
“I need to meet my lawyers and witnesses but they are not allowed to visit me in the prison,” Lissu told the court, asking the judges to intervene over access to his legal team and potential witnesses.
The prosecution has objected to Lissu’s request to call President Hassan and other senior government officials as defence witnesses.
The defence stage could therefore generate further legal arguments over which witnesses Lissu will be permitted to call and the conditions under which they will testify.
‘No Reforms, No Elections’ campaign
The case stems from Chadema’s campaign ahead of Tanzania’s October 2025 election, which was conducted under the slogan “No Reforms, No Elections.”
Lissu and the party had demanded electoral reforms before the polls and called for resistance if their demands were not met.
The prosecution has linked statements made during that campaign to the treason allegations. Lissu, however, has maintained that the case is politically motivated and that his political advocacy should not amount to treason.
The opposition leader had returned to Tanzania from exile in 2023 after years abroad. He had previously been arrested several times and survived an assassination attempt in 2017.
Tanzania election crackdown remains under scrutiny
The trial is taking place against the backdrop of intense scrutiny of Tanzania’s political environment following the 2025 election.
President Samia Suluhu Hassan was declared the winner with 98 percent of the vote. Protests followed the election, with security forces accused by opposition groups and rights organisations of using excessive force.
The Tanzanian government has said more than 500 people were killed during the unrest but has not attributed responsibility for the deaths.
The scale of the crackdown and Lissu’s prosecution have attracted international concern. The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention previously found his detention unlawful, according to a legal assessment published by the American Bar Association.
The government, however, maintains its case against Lissu through the judicial process.
