Tanzanian opposition firebrand Godbless Lema spent four anxious hours at the Namanga crossing on Friday before immigration officers ordered him back to Arusha and confiscated his travel documents.
Lema, a senior figure in the Chama cha Demokrasia na Maendeleo party, was on his way to Nairobi for medical treatment when the standoff unfolded.
“I have been instructed to go back to Arusha and to visit the immigration offices in Dodoma for more information. I am in a lot of pain and I had a hospital appointment in Nairobi, but now I can’t go,” he wrote on X.
‘Orders from Above’
CHADEMA officials say border staff privately admitted they were acting on “orders from above”, a phrase the party calls a thinly veiled political directive.
“This is a deeply troubling phrase that points to the use of state power to pursue political vendettas,” the party said in a statement.
Tanzania’s Immigration Department later confirmed the stop, insisting it was “standard procedure” when additional verification is needed. Spokesperson Paul J. Mselle said Lema must present himself in Dodoma for questioning but did not specify any charges.
Medical Urgency
Sources close to the former Arusha City MP say he has been battling chronic back pain since an accident last year and had booked a specialist consultation in Nairobi. The enforced U-turn forced him to cancel the appointment.
Lema’s ordeal adds to a string of recent episodes in which CHADEMA activists report surveillance, travel restrictions, or brief detentions. The party has faced bans on rallies, arrests of senior officials, and disqualification from local polls, despite President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s 2023 pledge to ease political space.
Lema is expected to appear at immigration headquarters in Dodoma early next week. CHADEMA lawyers say they will demand the immediate release of his passport and clarity on any legal basis for the travel ban.
Human-rights watchdogs are already calling on Nairobi to raise the matter through regional diplomatic channels, warning that such restrictions could chill cross-border political engagement in East Africa.
For now, the outspoken former legislator remains grounded in Arusha, awaiting answers while his supporters decry what they view as a fresh assault on opposition freedoms.
