Tanzania president wins election as hundreds feared dead in unrest
President Samia Suluhu Hassan has been declared the winner of Tanzania’s presidential election, securing another term amid days of unrest across the country.
Samia won 98% of the votes in Wednesday’s poll, the electoral commission said. In her Saturday victory speech she said the election was “free and democratic”, accusing protesters of being “unpatriotic”.
Opposition parties rejected the results, calling the vote a mockery of the democratic process as Samia’s main challengers had been either imprisoned or barred from running.
International observers have expressed concern over the lack of transparency and widespread turmoil that has reportedly left hundreds of people dead and injured.
The nationwide internet shutdown is making it difficult to verify the death toll.
The government has sought to play down the scale of the violence and authorities have extended a curfew in a bid to quell the unrest.
