Tanzanian Bishops’ president: ‘Protesters were killed without mercy’

By Federico Piana

“It was a sad, horrific, deadly event,” according to Bishop Wolfgang Pisa, Bishop of the Diocese of Lindi.

The President of the Tanzanian Catholic Bishops’ Conference reflected on the events of October 29 in an interview with Vatican News.

On the day of Tanzania’s general election, major cities such as Dar es Salaam, Mbeya, Arusha, Mwanza, Geita, and Kahama were shaken by large public demonstrations, protesting what many considered an irregular and illegitimate vote.

Amid the chaos—where even some protesters committed excessive acts of violence—the police responded with unprecedented brutality, said the Bishop.

“They fired and killed not only those who were demonstrating, but even people standing in front of their homes who had nothing to do with the protests,” he said. “They acted recklessly, without mercy.”

Protesting is a right

Although those who took to the streets had not been formally authorized to do so, Bishop Pisa upheld people’s right to protest.

“Protests are a right of the people and must not be stopped with gunfire,” he said. “Besides, the young people—who were the driving force behind the demonstrations—knew very well that in such a tense sociopolitical climate, the authorities would never have granted permission.”

No one yet knows how many were killed or injured. After being sworn in for her second term, President Samia Suluhu Hassan downplayed the situation, mentioning only a few victims and providing no official figures.

Treatment denied

Bishop Pisa opens a window onto the truth and lends credibility to testimonies from people who reported seeing stacks of hundreds of bodies.

“We received reports that, in some of our missionary hospitals—such as the Rugambwa Hospital in Dar es Salaam—medical staff were instructed by the police to deny treatment to injured protesters or to provide only limited assistance,” he said. “From the very beginning they had been labeled as criminals, and if the intention of the security forces was to kill them rather than to stop the protests peacefully, I am not surprised that they preferred to see them dead rather than alive and seeking medical care.”

Difficult identification

There may be another explanation as well, according to Bishop Pisa. “Treating the injured would have offered the world a truthful account of what happened, revealing the responsibilities of the security forces,” he noted.

Another effort to hide the number of deaths is chilling. “Many people, both in mortuaries and on the streets, were prevented from identifying the bodies of their relatives or friends. Still today, it is difficult to know the true extent of what occurred.”

Years of abuse

Bishop Pisa analyzed the situation over the past few years, tracing the violence that has gripped Tanzania for years and that may have fueled recent anti-government protests.

“According to a document published by the University of Dar es Salaam’s Union of Academics on October 23, between 2020 and 2025, 87 people were kidnapped,” he said. “Of these, 36 were brutally killed. For years this has caused public outrage, as people wondered whether these acts were carried out by the police, an unknown independent force, or even both.”

Authorities have never given answers, leaving many questions open. “Why is the government not stepping in to end these abuses? Is this perhaps a new way of governing—intimidating the population to silence them?” he wondered.

Bishop Pisa also reflected on opposition party leaders who were harassed or jailed prior to the vote.

“This kind of restriction—including the ban on the Chadema party from participating in the elections—shows clearly that the ruling party is not open to democracy or multiparty elections,” he said. “The last fair elections? They were in 2015.”

The Church as a witness to truth

The local Church, concluded Bishop Pisa, is aware more than ever of its responsibility to bear witness to truth, justice, and peace.

The Church in Tanzania, he said, is calling loudly “for leaders to apologize for the violence and for an independent committee to be immediately established to investigate this disaster.”