DAR ES SALAAM, November 6, 2026 — Tanzania’s High Court has acquitted opposition leader Tundu Antipas Lissu of treason but found him guilty of the lesser offence of incitement, bringing a major development in a high-profile trial that has attracted national and international attention.

The verdict was delivered on Friday by a three-judge panel at the High Court’s Dar es Salaam Sub-Registry, led by Justice Dunstan Ndunguru, alongside Justices James Karayemaha and Ferdinand Kiwonde.

The court ruled that prosecutors had failed to establish that Lissu intended to intimidate the government, a key element required to prove the treason charge.

However, the judges found that his statements urging Tanzanians to prevent and disrupt the 2025 General Election amounted to incitement, convicting him of the alternative offence under Section 390 of Tanzania’s Penal Code.

Reading the judgment, Justice Ndunguru invoked Section 319 of the Criminal Procedure Act, which allows a court to convict an accused person of a lesser offence where the evidence establishes that offence, even if it was not separately included in the original charge sheet.

The court said evidence presented during the trial demonstrated that Lissu’s remarks had influenced some individuals to participate in activities aimed at disrupting the election.

Lissu, who chairs Tanzania’s main opposition party, CHADEMA, was arrested in April 2025 following remarks made at the party’s headquarters in Dar es Salaam on April 3, in which he called for efforts to prevent the general election under the party’s campaign slogan, “No Reforms, No Elections.”

Prosecutors accused him of seeking to mobilise rebellion and disrupt the electoral process, arguing that his statements constituted treason under Section 39(2)(d) of the Penal Code.

The opposition leader denied the allegations and maintained that the prosecution had failed to prove the charges against him.

The treason charge carried the possibility of the death penalty, making the proceedings particularly consequential for Lissu, who has remained in detention since his arrest.

The case unfolded against a tense political backdrop following Tanzania’s October 2025 general election, which was accompanied by deadly unrest, protests and international criticism over the authorities’ handling of the political crisis.

The conviction for incitement, however, means Lissu has not been fully cleared of criminal liability, despite his acquittal on the treason charge.

The verdict now shifts attention to the next stage of the proceedings, including the sentence to be imposed for the incitement conviction.