Dar es Salaam/Nairobi — East Africa is on edge tonight as Tanzania plunges into chaos after a disputed election — and the flames are beginning to leap across its borders. What began as protests in Dar es Salaam and Dodoma has spiralled into full-scale unrest, prompting a military deployment and spreading panic into neighbouring Kenya.
Tanzania’s general election on 29 October erupted into turmoil within hours of polls closing. Streets once buzzing with campaign songs now echo with chants of defiance and tear-gas canisters. The ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) party, in power since independence, is accused of orchestrating a sham election after opposition candidates were barred or jailed. Furious citizens have taken to the streets, demanding change — and paying the price.
Authorities reacted swiftly and brutally. The army was deployed in major cities, curfews were imposed from dusk to dawn, and the internet was cut nationwide. Dar es Salaam — normally the beating heart of Tanzania’s commerce — has fallen eerily silent, its main roads sealed by armoured vehicles and its skyline hazed with smoke. Amnesty International confirmed at least two deaths: one police officer and one civilian. Independent witnesses say the toll may be far higher.
But the anger refuses to die down. Videos smuggled out before the digital blackout show protesters confronting security forces in running battles, waving placards that read “No justice, no peace.” Many Tanzanians describe a country teetering on the edge — where frustration, years in the making, has exploded into rage.
And now, that rage is crossing borders. In the Kenyan town of Namanga, which straddles the main trade route between the two countries, traders woke up to blocked roads, burning tyres, and terrified crowds fleeing from the Tanzanian side. By afternoon, the normally bustling border was deserted, save for stranded trucks carrying fuel, cement, and fresh produce.
“I’ve lost two days’ worth of sales,” said Kenyan trader James Njoroge. “No trucks are coming through. Everyone is afraid. We can hear gunfire from across the border.”
Kenyan authorities have issued urgent travel warnings, advising citizens to avoid Tanzania as the situation “remains volatile and fluid.” The disruption threatens to choke a key artery of the East African economy: under normal circumstances, over 100 trailer-loads of goods cross daily at Namanga. The economic fallout could ripple far beyond the borderlands.
Regional observers say Tanzania’s turmoil has exposed the fragility of the East African Community’s dream of integration. Kenya and Tanzania have been locked in simmering disputes over trade rules, market access, and migration restrictions for months. Now, the eruption of political violence has injected a dangerous new volatility into that already strained relationship.
Analysts warn that the current crisis has all the hallmarks of a slow-burning regional emergency. With the Tanzanian military on the streets and the government enforcing digital silence, there are growing fears that the country’s leadership — expected to claim victory for incumbent President Samia Suluhu Hassan — may have won an election but lost its legitimacy. The European Parliament has already condemned the vote as “neither free nor fair.”
For Kenya, the consequences are immediate and tangible. The cross-border markets that feed thousands of families are frozen. Petrol stations near the frontier are reporting shortages as tankers remain stranded on the Tanzanian side. Rumours of refugees crossing into Kajiado County are spreading fast, though local officials say it’s too early to confirm.
Diplomats in Nairobi and Arusha are working frantically behind the scenes, but with communication lines down and Tanzanian state media broadcasting little beyond official statements of “calm restored,” reliable information is scarce.
As night falls over East Africa, both nations brace for what comes next. In Dar es Salaam, the distant sound of gunfire mixes with the thud of army trucks patrolling empty boulevards. In Namanga, border guards watch nervously as smoke curls across the horizon from the Tanzanian hills.
The fear, whispered from one roadside stall to another, is chillingly simple: if Tanzania burns, Kenya may feel the heat next.
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