Overview
- Prime Minister Mwigulu Nchemba urged citizens to stay home on December 9 after the government cancelled official Independence Day celebrations.
- Police said any demonstration would be unlawful because no formal notification was received, and the home affairs minister described the plan as a coup.
- Witnesses reported heavy deployments of police and army along major roads in Dar es Salaam and Arusha ahead of the planned gatherings.
- Human Rights Watch reported pre‑emptive arrests and digital surveillance targeting alleged organizers and opposition supporters linked to the protests.
- President Samia Suluhu Hassan appointed a commission of former officials to investigate the unrest, while the United States said it is reviewing relations over rights concerns.