Tanzania’s jailed opposition leader ends hunger strike after meeting with his brother

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Tanzania’s jailed opposition leader Tundu Lissu ended a brief hunger strike Tuesday after prison authorities allowed him to meet privately with his younger brother, his lead lawyer said.

Lissu, who survived being shot 16 times in a 2017 assassination attempt and has spent periods in exile citing threats to his life, leads Tanzania’s main opposition party, Chadema.

He faces a treason charge carrying a possible death sentence and has been detained for more than 18 months, with a final judgment scheduled for Nov. 6.

His lead lawyer, Rugemeleza Nshala, told The Associated Press by telephone that Lissu had planned to begin the strike Monday to protest restrictions on court-ordered confidential legal consultations. He postponed it after prison authorities promised private access.

When those consultations failed to take place Monday, Lissu began refusing food Tuesday morning, Nshala said.

“Lissu did not take his tea, breakfast or lunch,” Nshala said. He ended the strike after lunchtime following the private meeting with his brother.

Prison authorities and the government had issued no public statements on the hunger strike.

Nshala said Saturday that prison authorities had, on some occasions, barred access to Lissu altogether. He expressed concern about the health implications of a hunger strike because Lissu relies on medication.

Lissu was arrested April 9, 2025, after addressing a rally calling for electoral reforms ahead of that year’s general election and was charged with treason the following day .

In May 2025, he went on hunger strike to protest being required to appear in court remotely rather than in person.

Presidential candidates from Tanzania’s two main opposition parties were barred from contesting the October 2025 election, which triggered protests and deadly violence.

Chadema announced seven days of mourning ahead of the anniversary of the violence surrounding the Oct. 29 election.

Secretary-General John Mnyika told journalists in Dar es Salaam on Tuesday that the mourning period would run from Thursday through Nov. 4, with party flags flown at half-mast. He called for an independent investigation involving international bodies and independent Tanzanian stakeholders.

An inquiry into the election violence found in April that at least 518 people died . Its chairman, Mohamed Chande Othman, said the toll was likely higher because some families buried relatives without taking their bodies to morgues.

The United Nations had earlier called for an investigation into the killings and reports that police removed bodies from mortuaries to undisclosed locations. Chadema put the death toll at about 2,000, a figure the U.N. said it could not verify amid insecurity and an internet shutdown during the election period.