The acquittal of Tundu Antiphas Lissu on the charge of treason should, in a constitutional democracy, have been an occasion for celebrating the triumph of justice. The prosecution failed to prove an essential element of the charge: That Lissu intended to intimidate the Government. Yet the three-judge bench proceeded to convict him of incitement, an offence which, in my considered view, was not an alternative charge on the charge sheet. I agree with Lissu’s objection that the judges effectively manufactured a charge against him. He was subsequently sentenced to four years’ imprisonment.
This judgment raises a fundamental question beyond Lissu’s personal liberty: Is Tanzania’s Judiciary independent of the Executive, or has it surrendered its constitutional responsibility to protect citizens against the excesses of political power?
The Judiciary was also on trial. Those of us who followed these proceedings were watching to establish whether the three judges would exercise their judicial independence or demonstrate their subservience to the Executive. Unfortunately, I consider the outcome a scandalous pact between the Executive and the Judiciary. In my assessment, the conviction on the substituted charge reflects a bench that failed the tests of independence, integrity and humanity.
The issue is not whether courts possess statutory powers to convict on lesser offences. It is whether those powers can legitimately be exercised without compromising an accused person’s right to know the case against them and to defend themselves. Criminal justice cannot become an exercise in judicial improvisation, particularly where the liberty of a political opponent is at stake.
My concern is deeply personal. Tundu Lissu has been my friend for decades. I admire his patriotism, courage, intellectual capacity and formidable knowledge of law and politics. I first encountered him in the aftermath of the horrific assassination attempt in which he was shot 27 times. I was among the first Kenyans to visit him at Nairobi Hospital. I subsequently wrote the foreword to his book on parliamentary democracy, which he wrote during his painful recovery. His determination to fight for democratic transformation in Tanzania and across East Africa has remained an inspiration to the legal profession and democratic movements worldwide.
My commitment to witnessing his trial came at a personal cost. On May 19, 2025, I travelled to Dar es Salaam with fellow Kenyan comrades to observe the proceedings. Instead of being allowed to exercise our legitimate responsibility as trial observers, we were detained at Julius Nyerere International Airport and subsequently deported to Kenya. I was held for hours without a satisfactory explanation. The experience was particularly painful because Tanzania is not a foreign intellectual or political territory to me. I studied law at the University of Dar es Salaam between 1968 and 1971 and again between 1973 and 1974. It was there that my intellectual, ideological and political consciousness matured. I have loved Tanzania and its people for decades.
What followed made the assault on regional solidarity even more disturbing. Our comrades Boniface Mwangi and Ugandan human rights defender Agather Atuhaire were arrested, detained incommunicado and subjected to horrific treatment. Their accounts of torture, humiliation and degrading treatment shocked the conscience of East Africa and the international human rights community. These events were part of the background to my essay, Dictatorships Are Gender Neutral, in which I condemned the subversion of law and justice by authoritarian power.
I distinguish between Tanzania and its people, whom I continue to love, and a government whose conduct I profoundly condemn. The Tanzania I encountered at the University of Dar es Salaam was a country inspired by Julius Nyerere’s Pan-Africanism, liberation struggles and intellectual openness. It is painful to witness the distance between that historical promise and the present assault on democratic freedoms.
I do not expect Lissu to obtain justice easily through the existing institutional arrangements. Nevertheless, he must appeal to the Court of Appeal and seek an expedited hearing. His appeal should challenge both the legal basis of the substituted conviction and the fairness of the proceedings.
I call upon African law societies, bar associations, human rights organisations and regional institutions to scrutinise this judgment and expose the consequences of judicial dependence on executive power. Silence would amount to complicity.
Ultimately, this case is bigger than Tundu Lissu. It concerns the future of constitutionalism, judicial independence and democratic accountability in Tanzania and across East Africa.
A Judiciary that abandons its watchdog responsibility becomes an instrument of political power. Tanzania deserves better. Its people deserve an independent Judiciary, not one that behaves as President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s poodle.