Tanzania opposition face fresh blocks ahead of election

DAR ES SALAAM, TANZANIA - A Tanzanian court on Monday confirmed that a treason trial would go ahead against opposition leader Tundu Lissu, while authorities renewed a ban on another candidate for next month's election.

The government of President Samia Suluhu Hassan has increasingly cracked down on the opposition ahead of the vote on 29 October, drawing criticism from international rights groups and monitors.

Lissu, head of the main opposition party Chadema, was arrested in April and charged with treason after calling for electoral reforms, and his party was banned from the election.

An appeal to dismiss his case over procedural flaws was rejected by judges on Monday.

Meanwhile, another presidential candidate, Luhaga Mpina, of the Alliance for Change and Transparency (ACT Wazalendo), the country's third-largest party, was disqualified for a second time by the attorney general.

Mpina was first barred from the election last month because "he lacked qualifications", then reinstated by the Supreme Court last week, only to be disqualified again on Monday over procedural technicalities.

ACT Wazalendo said "our candidate and our party have been denied justice".

It said President Hassan is determined to "suppress and ultimately destroy the multi-party democratic system" in the East African nation.

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