Tanzania’s darkest election: Witnesses describe police ‘shoot-to-kill’ rampage in Mwanza
Tanzanian riot police disperse demonstrators during violent protests that marred the election following the disqualification of the two leading opposition candidates in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania on October 29, 2025.
Around 8.30 pm on October 31, a group of policemen appeared in the Mjimwema neighbourhood of the Tanzanian city of Mwanza, where residents were running errands and drinking coffee. Without warning, they opened fire in different directions, triggering panic.
The officers ordered men who had taken shelter in a nearby cafe to lie on the ground and then shot at them, three witnesses told Reuters. By the time shooting subsided, more than a dozen lay dead, they said.
