DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania — Tanzanian activist Mange Kimambi, now living in the United States, has once again found herself at the center of controversy — this time for exposing what she claims are the horrific consequences of last week’s disputed elections in Tanzania.
Kimambi has been flooding her social media platforms with graphic photos and videos allegedly showing protesters killed during the October 29 polls.
Her posts — raw, unfiltered, and often too gruesome for most timelines — have drawn both international attention and fury from Tanzanian authorities.
President Samia Suluhu secured a staggering 98pc of the vote, according to the country’s electoral commission. But opposition leaders quickly branded the results a “sham”, while African Union observers reported that the process fell short of democratic standards.
As protests erupted across major cities, the government imposed a total internet shutdown, cutting off access to reliable updates and leaving the public in the dark. That’s where Kimambi stepped in.
Posting hourly, she shared what she said were images of corpses, blood-soaked hospital floors, and civilians torn apart by bullets — some accompanied by captions accusing Suluhu’s administration of unleashing a brutal crackdown on dissent.
“The violence Samia Suluhu unleashed against Tanzanians for protesting and demanding free and fair elections,” Kimambi wrote in one of her viral posts.
While the authenticity of some footage remains difficult to verify, AFP’s fact-checking team confirmed that certain clips had no previous online presence. Visual details — such as Swahili road signs, police uniforms, and familiar landscapes — suggest that much of the material was indeed filmed in Tanzania.
Back home, the Tanzanian government is moving fast to suppress the online firestorm.
Attorney General Hamza Johari announced plans to seek Kimambi’s arrest, saying officials would explore extradition options with the United States.
“We must arrest her… Let’s see if we have an extradition agreement with the United States to bring her here,” Johari said Thursday.
Kimambi, who boasts 2.5 million Instagram followers and nearly 400,000 on X, was quick to clap back — calling Johari an “idiot” and accusing the government of targeting her instead of those responsible for the killings.
“You have killed thousands of young people in Tanzania, but you’re going after Mange instead of prosecuting the murderers,” she said in a video response.
Tanzanian police have warned citizens against sharing “images that may create panic or humiliate people,” while some residents told AFP they received text alerts suggesting their social media activity was under surveillance.
Human rights activist Tito Magoti condemned the intimidation tactics, calling them an attempt to “instil fear” and silence dissenting voices.
Still, Kimambi shows no signs of slowing down. She’s pinned three of the most disturbing videos to the top of her X profile — clips she says were filmed in Mwanza, one of the hardest-hit regions. The videos reportedly show young men killed while watching football at a café.
“My number is public. Most Tanzanians have it,” Kimambi told AFP, insisting that citizens continue to send her footage directly.
As the government tightens its grip on information, Kimambi’s posts have become a rallying cry for Tanzanians demanding justice — and a stark reminder of the power (and peril) of digital activism in repressive political climates.
