Person in Zanzibar, Tanzania. Editorial credit: Gray Kotze / Shutterstock.com

Tanzania

Tanzania has held regular multiparty elections since its transition from a one-party state in the early 1990s, but the opposition remains relatively weak. The ruling Chama cha Mapinduzi (CCM) has retained power for over 60 years. After the late John Magufuli became president in 2015, the government cracked down on its critics in the political opposition, the press, and civil society. Opposition, media, and civil society activity has somewhat increased under Samia Suluhu Hassan, who became president in 2021 upon Magufuli’s death.

Iranian people in Izmir protest the death of Mahsa Amini by the morality police in Iran.

Freedom in the World — Tanzania Country Report

Tanzania is rated Partly Free in Freedom in the World 2023, Freedom House's annual study of political rights and civil liberties worldwide.

Our Work in Tanzania

Freedom House’s Data Driven Advocacy program works to build the ability of Tanzanian civil society to advocate for, and influence policy on, key national-level human rights issues using better data and information to drive results. The program does this by strengthening platforms of collaboration among CSOs for evidence-based human rights advocacy; building civil society’s ability to collect, generate, monitor, and report independent and reliable information concerning human rights abuses; and supporting civil society responses to urgent and unanticipated human rights needs.

To learn more about our work in the region, visit our Sub-Saharan Africa programs page.