Mixed reactions over Tundu Lissu’s treason case ruling

There have been mixed reactions following the high court ruling of treason case facing Tanzania’s leading opposition figure, Tundu Lissu.

The High Court of Tanzania decided to take an about turn in the sedition charges that were facing the country’s charismatic opposition leader, Tundu Lissu, finding him ‘guilty’ of ‘incitement,’ instead.

The ruling was issued on Friday, November 6, 2026, by a three-judge panel led by Justice Dunstan Ndunguru at the High Court’s Dar es Salaam sub-registry.

Tundu Lissu, the national chairperson of the leading opposition party, the Chama Cha Demokrasia na Maendeleo (CHADEMA), was acquitted of treason but found guilty of incitement, through ‘his statements!’

He will thus serve four years in prison.

Delivering the judgment, Justice Ndunguru said the court had considered evidence presented by both the prosecution and defense before reaching its decision.

The Judge explained that Section 319 of Tanzania’s Criminal Procedure Act (CPA) empowers a court to convict an accused person of a lesser offence even where that offence was not separately included in the original charge sheet.

“The court is satisfied that, under Section 319 of the CPA, the accused committed the lesser offence of incitement under Section 390 of the Penal Code,” Justice Ndunguru said.

The judges found that although the prosecution had failed to establish the elements of treason, it had proved the alternative charge of incitement arising from Lissu’s remarks urging the public to prevent and disrupt the 2025 general election.

Tundu Lissu’s treason case proceedings attracted regional and international attention, with opposition groups and human rights advocates raising concerns about the prosecution of political dissent and the implications for democratic freedoms in Tanzania.

Advocate Derrick Absalom of the Human Rights, Legal Advisor and Litigation Expert at the High Court of Tanzania tweeted on ‘X’ saying ‘In Tanzanian Criminal Jurisprudence an accused person can only be convicted and punished for an offence explicitly stated in the charge sheet or information.

“That’s the law of the country!”

Brenda Rupia wrote that ‘A new experience in court today as the honorable who was accused with treason is now being sentenced with sedition.”

“…Apparently the law has many dynamics.”

The ruling brings to a close one of Tanzania’s most closely watched political and legal cases, though Lissu’s conviction for incitement remains.

The Amnesty International had earlier pointed out that Tundu Lissu has been detained for over 19 months solely for the peaceful exercise of his human rights and called on the court to release him immediately and unconditionally, drop all charges, and ensure he does not face the death penalty.