Opposition Leader's Death Sparks Calls for Judicial Probe

The body of Ally Kibao, a senior Tanzanian opposition official, was found with signs of beating and acid attack, suggesting a politically motivated killing. President Samia Suluhu Hassan has ordered an investigation, but calls grow for a judicial probe as police are suspects in the case.

The body of a senior Tanzanian opposition official abducted from a bus by armed men was found on the outskirts of the commercial capital Dar es Salaam, showing signs he had been beaten and had acid poured on his face, according to his party.

The killing of Ally Kibao, a member of the secretariat of the main opposition CHADEMA party, may undermine the reformist image of President Samia Suluhu Hassan, who has sought to ease repression since succeeding John Magafuli, who died in office three years ago.

Kibao's body was discovered on Saturday morning, a day after two armed men removed him from a bus traveling from Dar es Salaam to the northeastern port city of Tanga, CHADEMA chairman Freeman Mbowe told journalists late on Sunday. Preliminary post-mortem results indicate severe beating and acid attack.

President Hassan announced she had ordered an investigation into what she described as Kibao's assassination. "Our country is democratic and every citizen has the right to live. The government I lead does not tolerate such brutal acts," she wrote on X on Sunday.

Police said in a statement they were investigating the "tragic incident". Mbowe urged the president to form a judicial commission to investigate abductions and the killing because, he said, police were among the suspects.

The incident occurs a month after police arrested and briefly detained more than 500 CHADEMA supporters, including their top leadership, as they attempted to gather for a meeting of the party's youth wing in the southwest of the country. While President Hassan has eased some restrictions on the media and opposition, rights groups report that arbitrary detentions have continued.

(With inputs from agencies.)