Kenyan and Ugandan opposition leaders have condemned the four-year prison sentence handed to Tanzanian opposition leader Tundu Lissu, despite his acquittal on treason charges.
People’s Liberation Party leader and 2027 presidential aspirant Martha Karua has called for Lissu’s immediate release, describing his conviction for incitement as a travesty of justice and evidence of continued political persecution.
In a statement issued on Friday, Karua said the acquittal confirmed there was no basis for the treason charges that had kept Lissu in custody since April 2025. She argued that the four-year sentence was another attempt to keep him behind bars and undermine political competition in Tanzania.
Karua also cited the exclusion of CHADEMA from the 2025 elections and the continued intimidation of opposition voices, warning that the use of state institutions to weaken political opponents threatens democracy across East Africa.
Linda Mwananchi leader Edwin Sifuna welcomed the collapse of the treason charges, describing them as trumped-up accusations that should never have been brought against Lissu.
Sifuna said Lissu had lost more than two years of his life in custody while defending himself against the charges, insisting that his demand for electoral reforms to guarantee free and fair elections was not a crime.
Ugandan opposition leader Bobi Wine also welcomed the acquittal but criticised the decision to convict Lissu on the lesser charge of incitement and sentence him to four years in prison.
Bobi Wine described the conviction as evidence of how authoritarian regimes weaponise the judiciary to silence opposition leaders, adding that the struggle for democracy across the region remained united.
Miguna Miguna congratulated Lissu for defeating the treason charges, describing the outcome as a triumph of fearlessness, focus and truth over impunity.
Miguna, however, said the incitement conviction was intended to offer President Samia Suluhu Hassan political relief, maintaining that the struggle for democracy must continue.
The reactions come after Tanzania's High Court acquitted Lissu of treason but convicted him of incitement, sentencing him to four years in prison.
Lissu, who leads CHADEMA, had faced the treason case over his calls for electoral reforms ahead of Tanzania's 2025 General Election.
