Tanzanian opposition leader and former presidential candidate Tundu Lissu was released on bail Sunday after being arrested by the Karatu District Police in his hotel room for allegedly holding an illegal gathering and obstructing police duties. According to the police statement, Lissu was held for interviewing before being released.

Since returning from exile earlier this year after a 2017 assassination attempt, Lissu has hosted multiple political rallies and was set to hold another after his arrest. As the vice chairman of CHADEMA, the largest opposition party in Tanzania, Lissu advocates for democratic progress and against authoritarianism and violence. In an interview published by the Council on Foreign Relations in March 2021, Lissu stated:

Tanzania has needed a new constitutional order for a long time, and the introduction of multi-party democracy in 1992 made calls for reform louder, but not many people took reformers seriously.

Lissu’s decision to return to Tanzania was at least in part due to President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s decision in January 2023 to lift a ban on political assemblies by opposition parties. The ban was imposed by former President John Magufuli and was in effect for six years. However, Part II of the 1988 Tanzania Parliamentary Immunities, Powers and Privileges Act protects the freedom of members to hold meetings in constituencies.