On Wednesday opposition leader Tundu Lissu returned to Tanzania from self-imposed exile in Belgium.
President Samia Suluhu Hassan had lifted the ban on opposition rallies imposed by former President John Magufuli in 2016. Lissu addressed his supporters on his return.
In 2017, Lissu was shot 16 times and only just survived. He has since then lived largely in Belgium, apart from contesting the 2020 election as the presidential candidate for the opposition Chadema party.
As the former vice president, Suluhu came to power in March 2021 after Magufuli died of Covid.
Since then she has been gradually relaxing the stringent controls on alternative voices in Tanzania. Previously only elected officials were allowed to hold political rallies while media houses now have more liberty to publish critical stories.
Suluhu has been criticised for moving too slowly on liberalising the political space. But Suluhu has to balance the competing demands within Tanzania, including the old guard within the ruling CCM party.
It is great that Tundu Lissu has returned to Tanzania and hopefully this will usher in a new era of free speech. Paradoxically, this will boost Suluhu's popularity and probably ensure her election as President in 2025.
Quote of the day: "To invent, you need a good imagination and a pile of junk."
Thomas Edison
He patented his incandescent lamp on January 27, 1880
