Overview
- The electoral commission declared President Samia Suluhu Hassan the winner with about 98% of the vote after major rivals were jailed, barred or disqualified, and Chadema rejected the result as a sham and demanded a rerun.
- The inauguration was held on tightly secured military grounds in Dodoma without public access, with state media coverage and attendance limited to senior officials and select foreign dignitaries.
- Authorities kept internet access largely blocked alongside curfews, with schools and universities closed, civil servants working from home, and the key Kenya border crossing at Namanga shut to traffic.
- Casualty counts remain contested, with Chadema and some diplomatic sources alleging deaths in the hundreds while the UN human rights office has verified at least 10, and the government denies excessive force.
- Hassan acknowledged loss of life, blamed foreign actors for unrest, and dismissed observer criticism and reform demands as external interference, even as SADC reported voters could not freely express their will and the EU urged restraint and investigations.