Tanzanian imams condemn election-related killings

President Samia Suluhu Hassan was declared the winner of the October 29 poll with 98 percent of the vote after her main opponents were jailed or disqualified.

The opposition have said more than 1,000 people were killed during several days of unrest, and Hassan promised on Friday to set up a commission of inquiry into the deaths.

"We strongly condemn the killing of innocent people who were killed during the 2025 general election," the council of imams said in a statement.

Hassan inherited the presidency on the sudden death of authoritarian head of state John Magufuli in 2021 and was initially feted for easing restrictions on the opposition and media.

But repression returned worse than ever in 2024 and ramped up in the weeks running up to the election.

The actions of security forces and the general organisation of the election have been widely criticised at home and abroad.

The imams said their unofficial election observers had found evidence of ballot stuffing and the registration of dead people as voters, adding it was "impossible" to have a legitimate outcome under those conditions.

The imams called for dialogue, a new constitution and the restoration of "justice, peace and human dignity" in the east African country.

Hundreds of protesters have been arrested and charged with treason, which carries the death penalty, but the president has indicated there would be leniency.

Hassan's intervention on Friday was the first conciliatory message towards the protesters since the unrest. The government has yet to provide casualty figures.