Tanzania’s High Court has acquitted opposition leader Tundu Antiphas Lissu of treason but convicted him of incitement and sentenced him to four years in prison, bringing a dramatic turn to a case that has kept the CHADEMA national chairman in detention for more than 18 months.
The judgment was delivered on Friday, November 6, by a three-judge panel at the High Court’s Dar es Salaam Sub-Registry, led by Justice Dunstan Ndunguru alongside Justices James Karayemaha and Ferdinand Kiwionde.
The court ruled that the prosecution had failed to prove a central element of the treason charge: that Lissu intended to intimidate the government. However, the judges found that his statements urging citizens to prevent and disrupt the 2025 General Election amounted to incitement, convicting him under Section 390 of the Penal Code.
The decision means Lissu has avoided the more serious treason conviction, which carries the death penalty under Tanzanian law, but remains behind bars following his conviction on the alternative charge.
In explaining the ruling, Justice Ndunguru said the court had considered evidence presented by both the prosecution and the defense. The judges relied on Section 319 of the Criminal Procedure Act, which allows a court to convict an accused person of a lesser offense where the evidence establishes that offense, even if it was not separately included in the original charge.
The court found that Lissu’s public remarks, including his calls to prevent the election under the campaign slogan “No Reforms, No Election,” constituted incitement. The judges also referred to testimony from prosecution witnesses who said they had been influenced by his statements and participated in activities intended to disrupt the electoral process.
The case originated from remarks Lissu made on April 3, 2025, at CHADEMA headquarters in Dar es Salaam. Prosecutors accused him of seeking to mobilize citizens to block the national election, incite rebellion and interfere with the constitutional process. He denied the allegations and maintained that his campaign was a demand for electoral reforms rather than an attempt to overthrow the government.
The original treason charge was particularly serious because a conviction could have exposed Lissu to the death penalty. He had spent 577 days in detention while facing that charge before Friday’s judgment replaced it with a conviction for the lesser offense.
Speaking during mitigation after the conviction, Lissu questioned how he could have spent that length of time detained on a treason charge only to be found guilty of incitement.
He told the judges that he had spent 577 days being described as a traitor and waiting for a possible death sentence, only for the court to find him guilty of an offense different from the one he had originally faced. He described the proceedings as political persecution and argued that the case had been driven by his political positions and views.
Lissu also challenged the legal basis of the conviction, saying incitement had not been the charge under which he had spent more than a year and a half defending himself. His remarks raised questions about the use of an alternative offense in a case that had initially been prosecuted as treason.
The prosecution, meanwhile, had urged the court to impose a stiff punishment, arguing that the sentence should discourage conduct capable of threatening public peace and stability. Incitement carries a maximum prison term of five years, a fine or both under the relevant provision of the Penal Code.
The case has unfolded against the backdrop of a deeply contested political period in Tanzania. Lissu was arrested in April 2025, months before the October general election, after repeatedly calling for changes to the electoral system. CHADEMA was subsequently excluded from participating in the election after refusing to sign an electoral code of conduct that the party said did not provide adequate guarantees for credible polls.
The election period was followed by widespread unrest and deadly violence. A government-appointed commission later reported that at least 518 people had been killed, while opposition figures and human rights organizations raised concerns about the conduct of security forces and the treatment of protesters. The government rejected allegations that security personnel had used excessive force.
Lissu’s detention and prosecution became one of the most closely watched political and legal developments in the country, attracting attention from regional and international observers. His case also became part of broader concerns about political freedoms, opposition participation and the independence of institutions during the election period.
Friday’s judgment therefore carries significance beyond the immediate fate of the CHADEMA chairman. It establishes that the court did not find the prosecution’s evidence sufficient to sustain the treason charge, while still accepting that the same proceedings supported a conviction for incitement.
The distinction is central to understanding the outcome. Lissu was not convicted of attempting to overthrow or intimidate the government through treason, but the court held him criminally responsible for statements it found had encouraged unlawful disruption of the election.
Despite the four-year sentence, the legal process may not be over. Lissu has indicated his intention to challenge the conviction, with the Court of Appeal of Tanzania providing the next avenue for an appeal.
For CHADEMA and its supporters, the judgment leaves their chairman in prison even after the court rejected the most serious accusation against him. For Tanzania, it brings a major chapter of a politically sensitive trial to a close while leaving difficult questions about the boundaries between political speech, calls for electoral reform and criminal incitement.
The verdict has ended the treason proceedings, but it has not ended the debate surrounding the case, Lissu’s detention or the political environment in which it unfolded.
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