Tanzania’s opposition leader Tundu Lissu to return from exile

Tanzanian opposition leader Tundu Lissu said Friday he would shortly return home from exile to “write a new chapter” following the president’s lifting of a ban on political assembly.

Tundu Lissu who was shot 16 times in an assassination attempt in 2017 and has spent most of the years since in Belgium, said he would arrive in Tanzania on January 25.

It follows President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s announcement this month that a ban on political rallies imposed by her hardline predecessor would be lifted in an overture to the opposition.

In a speech which was broadcast live on YouTube and carried on local channels in Tanzania, Lissu said he cannot continue to endlessly live in exile and that he was optimistic that they will write a new chapter this year 2023 , an important year in the history of their country.

He was last in Tanzania in late 2020 contesting the election against Hassan’s predecessor John Magufuli, a strongman leader who died just five months after winning his second term.

The victory was disputed and the opposition called for protests. Lissu took refuge with diplomats after threats to his life, before escaping the country.

Lissu’s opposition Chadema party has announced plans to start public rallies on January 21.