Tanzanian opposition leader and Chadema party’s national Vice Chairman Tundu Lissu has announced that he will soon be coming back home after spending five years in exile following the lifting of a ban on opposition rallies by President Samia Suluhu Hassan.
Lissu, who was shot 16 times in an assassination attempt in 2017 sought exile in Belgium after being sneaked to Kenya for treatment at the Nairobi hospital.
He however returned home for the 2020 presidential elections which were won by the late President John Pombe Maghufuli amidst claims of massive irregularities and silencing of critics including the media ahead of the polls.
Yesterday, Lisu used his New Year greetings to inform Tanzanians that he will once again step in Tanzanian soil on January 25.
“This has been a long and very difficult period in my personal life and in our life as a party and as a nation,” he said noting that the lifting of a ban on opposition political parties was historic and presents Tanzanians with an opportunity to have a special year.
“It is a year in which, if we decide with the sincerity of our hearts, we will get a new and democratic constitution, with an independent election system, which cares and protects the rights of the people and which lays a solid foundation for the accountability of our leaders to the people and their representatives,” he said.
President Suluhu is already preparing to make a bid in the 2025 elections where she will be expected to compete with Lisu among others. The ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) has never lost a presidential election.