Tanzania's president blames outsiders for election violence
Newshour
BBC
4.2 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 3 November 2025
⏱️ 47 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan has been sworn in for a second term after an election marred by violent protests and rejected by the opposition as a sham. The inauguration ceremony was closed to the public. The president was declared the winner on Saturday with 98% of the vote. She faced little opposition with key rival candidates either imprisoned or barred from running. International observers have raised concerns about the transparency of the election and its violent aftermath, with hundreds of people reportedly killed.
Also in the programme: The former top lawyer for the Israeli military is arrested in a scandal over a leaked video; and the actor Sir Anthony Hopkins opens up about his tough upbringing in a biography.
(Photo: A Tanzanian riot police officer throws a used teargas canister near a vandalised campaign poster of President Samia Suluhu Hassan, after a protest following a general election marred by violent demonstrations, October 30, 2025. Credit: Reuters Thomas Mukoya)
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, podcasts. |
| 0:09.0 | Hello and welcome to the programme. This is News Hour from the BBC World Service. We're coming to you live from London. I'm Paul Henley. |
| 0:17.2 | We start in Tanzania, in central East Africa, where events have taken a decidedly undemocratic turn |
| 0:23.4 | following presidential elections last week. |
| 0:26.3 | The Tanzanian president, Samir Saluhu Hassan, |
| 0:29.5 | has today been sworn in for a second term |
| 0:32.3 | in a ceremony held behind closed doors amid tight security. |
| 0:36.6 | She wore a red headscarf and sunglasses. |
| 0:53.7 | Tanzania's electoral commission claims the president won 98% of the votes. |
| 0:59.3 | International observers disagree. |
| 1:01.7 | And Samir Hassan's main challenges had either been imprisoned anyway or barred from running. |
| 1:07.0 | Tanzania has seen widespread turmoil since the vote last Wednesday, |
| 1:11.3 | and there are reports that hundreds of people have been killed and injured. |
| 1:15.3 | A nationwide internet shutdown is making all reports difficult to verify. |
| 1:19.9 | The government has sought to play down the scale of the violence |
| 1:22.6 | and describe protesters as not patriotic at all. |
| 1:26.4 | We've requested interviews with the Tanzanian government |
| 1:28.9 | and the police today. We've had no replies. I've been speaking to Deo Gratius Munishi, |
| 1:34.9 | who is the International Secretary of Chadima, Tanzania's main opposition party. He's in exile |
| 1:40.1 | in neighbouring Kenya. What had he been hearing from inside Tanzania? |
| 1:44.9 | As of today, the figures are over and above 1,000 deaths right now, |
| 1:51.8 | and this is based on what members of Chalema, local leaders are doing on the ground, |
... |
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