Tanzania’s main opposition leader Tundu Lissu has ended a brief hunger strike after prison authorities allowed him a private meeting with his lawyers, his legal team said.
Lissu, who heads the Party for Democracy and Progress (CHADEMA) and finished second in the 2020 presidential election, began refusing food after his lawyers were denied entry to the prison where he is being held.
Party spokesperson Brenda Rupia said on X that Lissu started the protest on Monday. His lawyer Rugemeleza Nshala told The Associated Press that the strike began on Tuesday morning after promised private consultations failed to take place.
“Lissu did not take his tea, breakfast or lunch,” Nshala said on Tuesday. He added that Lissu ended the strike after lunchtime following a meeting with his brother.
Nshala had expressed concern about Lissu’s health, noting that he relies on medication. Tanzania’s prisons service denied the hunger strike reports, telling the Swahili-language daily Mwananchi that Lissu was safe and not refusing food.
Lissu faces a treason charge that carries a possible death sentence. He was arrested in April 2025 after addressing a rally calling for electoral reforms. Prosecutors accused him of urging the public to rebel and disrupt last year’s general election. He has pleaded not guilty, and his lawyers describe the charges as politically motivated. Judgment is due on November 6.
Lissu survived being shot 16 times in a 2017 assassination attempt. His detention and reports of abductions of government critics have drawn scrutiny of President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s human rights record following her 2025 election victory. The government has rejected accusations of widespread abuses and said it remains committed to respecting human rights.
CHADEMA has announced seven days of mourning from Thursday to November 4 to mark the anniversary of the October 29 election. A government-appointed inquiry found that at least 518 people were killed in post-election violence, while CHADEMA puts the toll at about 2,000 — a figure the United Nations said it could not verify.
