The body of a senior Tanzanian opposition official who was kidnapped from a bus by armed men has been found on the outskirts of commercial capital, Dar es Salaam, with signs that he had been battered, and acid had been poured on his face.
The murder of Ally Kibao, a secretariat member of the main opposition CHADEMA party, may smudge the reformist image of President Samia Suluhu Hassan, who has made attempts to ease repression since succeeding John Magafuli who died while in office three years ago.
Kibao’s body was found on Saturday morning, a day after two armed men forcibly removed him from a bus en-route from Dar es Salaam to the north-eastern port city of Tanga, the CHADEMA chairman, Freeman Mbowe had told journalists late on Sunday.
Kibao’s death is coming a month after police officials arrested and shortly detained over 500 CHADEMA supporters, including their top leadership, as they made attempts to gather for a meeting of the party’s youth wing in the southwest of the country.
Hassan had also taken some steps to alleviate the restrictions on the media and opposition since coming to power, but rights groups have said that the arbitrary detentions are still ongoing.
What They’re Saying
“The (preliminary) post-mortem has been done and it is obvious that Ally Kibao has been killed after being severely beaten and even having acid poured on his face,” Mbowe said, adding that a full autopsy report would be finished on Monday.
President Hassan had also reacted with the announcement that she had ordered an investigation into Kibao’s assassination.
She had posted on X on Sunday, saying; “Our country is democratic and every citizen has the right to live. The government I lead does not tolerate such brutal acts.”
Police officials have released a statement saying that they were investigating the “tragic incident”.
Finally, Mbowe urged the president to form a judicial commission to probe the abductions and killing of Kibao because, according to him, police were among the suspects in the case.
