Tanzania police fire shots, tear gas at protesters after chaotic election

Hundreds of people take to streets of Dar-es-Salaam after two main opposition figures barred from presidential poll.

Police have fired gunshots on the streets of Tanzania’s largest city during protests after a tumultuous presidential election, as Amnesty International reports the deaths of at least two people.

In Dar-es-Salaam, a city of more than seven million people, protesters who defied a curfew on Thursday in the Mbagala, Gongo la Mboto and Kiluvya neighbourhoods were met with tear gas and the sounds of gunfire on the day after the election.

Tigere Chagutah, Amnesty International’s regional director for East and Southern Africa, said in a statement the organisation had received reports that one member of the public and one police officer had been killed. He called the deaths “deeply disturbing” and urged police to exercise restraint.

“The Tanzanian authorities must promptly conduct a thorough and independent investigation into the unlawful use of lethal force against protesters, and the perpetrators must be held accountable,” Chagutah added.

Internet access remained down across the city, where hundreds had set polling stations alight and chanted their discontent on election day.