University of Dar es Salaam Academics Expose Abductions and ‘Unknown Assailants’ Ahead of Tanzania’s 2025 Elections
Intelligence Brief | 24 October 2025 | 0345 BST
BOTTOM LINE UP FRONT: The University of Dar es Salaam Academic Staff Association (UDASA) issued an extraordinary statement on 23 October 2025—five days before Tanzania’s general elections—systematically documenting citizenship rights violations and enforced disappearances between 2020-2025. The statement, signed by Chairperson Prof. Elgidius Edgar Bwinabona Ichumbaki, represents Tanzania’s premier academic institution directly challenging the Samia Suluhu Hassan government’s repressive tactics. Critically, the statement emerged just days after Amnesty International’s damning October 2025 report titled “Unopposed, unchecked, unjust: Wave of Terror sweeps Tanzania ahead of 2025 vote,” creating coordinated domestic and international pressure on authorities during the most sensitive pre-election period.