00:00Stories, rumors, and eyewitness accounts of killings by security forces during election in
00:08Tanzania in late October are everywhere. The exact death toll is still unknown, but rough
00:15estimates by UN experts reach at least 700 individuals countrywide. Tanzania's president
00:22Samia Suluhu Hassan said the government was fighting Lutas and an attempted coup.
00:29We have said that we have done a great deal with this. The great deal was this. It was that we have taken care of, we have taken care of, we have taken care of.
00:46We found two incidents in Mwanza that disprove the statement. We found that police used excessive force not only against protesters but against citizens who were not protesting too. Security forces attacked and killed defenseless people. But let's start from the beginning.
01:09Election day protests erupted in Dar es Salaam and later spread to other cities such as Arusha, Dodoma, and Mwanza. At the time, many Tanzanians were unhappy about electoral irregularities, suppression of the opposition, and police intimidation.
01:27Police were out in force. And violence quickly ensued at street protests and locations around the country. Buses and gas stations were torched and this mattress factory was ransacked. The government declared a curfew at around 6pm and shut down the internet, cutting Tanzania off from the rest of the world.
01:50But that only delayed information spreading. In the weeks following the election, DW was able to track down evidence about two particular episodes of violence in Mwanza, Tanzania's second-largest city.
02:05Eyewitnesses and survivors have told DW that the police gunned down scores of people at protests and others in their own homes.
02:14The Tanzanian government is still investigating. UN experts say that at least 700 individuals were killed, while the opposition puts the number at almost 2,000.
02:31DW cannot verify the exact death toll, but can confirm that police pursued and killed citizens who were not involved in the protests.
02:40That contradicts President Suluhu Hassan's statement.
02:51Let's get into the details of the two major incidents in Mwanza.
02:56Survivors and witnesses agreed to talk to DW strictly on condition of anonymity.
03:02So, we changed their names.
03:04They say that the police are trying to silence them and destroy evidence.
03:08We found that police killed four people in a single incident in Kisesa at around 7 p.m. on the night of October 29.
03:18Security forces swarmed the area following a day of protests.
03:23The road between the town and Nji Mwema, a suburb of Mwanza, some 14 kilometers away, was a death artery on October 29 to October 30.
03:34Akida was killed here in Kisesa.
03:37Akida alikuwa amekaa nyuma ya nyumba yake na vijana wengine, wawili.
03:42Walikuwa wakila chipsi.
03:44Kisha polisi wakaja na kuambia wakaya mstari mmoja.
03:48Kulikuwa na saluni karibu na kulikuwa na mtu aliekua amimaleza zamu yake hapo.
03:54Polisi wakamuamuru nae ajiyunge na wale wengine ambao tayari walikuwa wamepangwa mstari ni.
04:01Kisha polisi waliwamuru wate walale chini.
04:04Walilala. Yule mtu wa saluni alijaribu kukimbia na polisi wakampiga risasi mgongoni.
04:10Wakampiga tena kifuwani.
04:12Kisha wakampiga kichwani.
04:14Wale waliukua meamuri wa walale chini na awote walipigua risasi na kufa.
04:19The victims were Akida, age 31, Chacha, the man from the salon, 40, Hamu, 31, and Zuberi, 24.
04:29Akida's mother and two others witnessed the mass killing.
04:32Nilikimbilia barabarani na kukutamilia watu wane imela la chini.
04:39Nikamuinua mwanangu.
04:41Mwiliwake ulikuwa baridi, lakini migu yake, badu ilikuwa na joto-joto kidogo.
04:47Kwa hivyo, nilidhani badu yuko hai.
04:50Nikakimbia kurudi nyumbani, kuchukua gari.
04:53Nikarudi haraka kwenye eneo la tokio.
04:55Lakini nika kutakuwa, mwanangu, alikuwa tayari ya meshaka taroho.
05:03Eyewitnesses say sporadic shooting throughout the night made it hard for the families of the victims to collect the bodies of the deceased.
05:11Kulikuwa na maiti nyingi mitani na hakukuwa na mtu wa kuzikusanya.
05:16Hata kama angekua rafiki yako, baada kupegwe risasi, ilibidi ukimbietu, usinge thubutu kurudi kuchukua mwili wake.
05:23Hata kueza hata kuziweka maiti kando.
05:27Kwa hivyo, kuhusu maiti hizo ni wanajeshi ndi waliokuwa kizikusanya.
05:31Walikuwa na malori maalumu ya kubebea maiti hizo.
05:35The second incident in Mwanza shows that security forces didn't just shoot random people in the streets.
05:43DW found that several people were shot at at a video hall in Inji Mwema between 7 and 8 p.m. on October 30.
05:52Imani, a survivor, was sitting there with 14 others when they heard sporadic shooting outside.
05:59Tulikuwa ndani ya kibanda umiza, tukitiza mahabari.
06:04Rafla, tulisikia risansi zikifiatuliwa nje.
06:07Badhi yetu tulikuwa tumejificha chini ya mabenchi.
06:10Tulipolala, nilisikia risansi zikifiatuliwa tena.
06:14Nilihisi kama zilikua zikipigwa hewani, lakini kwa kweli zilikua zikifiatuliwa kwetu.
06:19Tukiozima, nilichukua chini ya dakika moja, kisha wakaondoka.
06:22Nilihisi umoto-moto kwenye shavulangu na nilipojigusa kwa vidolevi yangu.
06:28Nilihisi nilikuwa nekigusa meno yangu.
06:31Nilikuwa nimepigwa risasi.
06:32Niliona watu wa kitapatapa pale chini na damu zilikua zikiwatoka.
06:36Nikasimama na kukimbia.
06:38Nilijificha kwa muda, mahali, kisha nikaenda nyombani.
06:40Imani sought treatment at a hospital.
06:44He worries about his safety.
06:47This is a scene in the aftermath of the incident.
06:51Eyewitnesses say several bodies lay in and around the video hall.
06:56Nima lost two of her relatives in this incident.
07:00A son, Simba, and her brother, Kamisi.
07:04Nilitoka njie kumsaidia mtu ambaye alikuwa mipigwa risasi mgungoni na kunyipadja.
07:09Alikuwa mifanikiwa kutambaa hadi mlanguni kwetu.
07:13Alinusurika.
07:14Tulipo kuwa tuki msaidia.
07:16Kijana moja alikuja kipigia kilele.
07:18Mama Simba, njowone, njumba hamisi na jibali wamewawa.
07:22Nilipigia makilele na kujaribu kufuka barabara na kundila watu.
07:26Hakiwemo kakayake jibali.
07:28Lakini risasi zilikua zinaendelea kurendima.
07:30Tulilazimika kurudi.
07:32Kisha akaja kijana mungine.
07:34Na kunyambia Simba wamewawa.
07:36Usi, another survivor, was with Simba when the shooting started.
07:41Nilimwambia Simba.
07:42Tunaitaji kukimbia lakini alikataa.
07:45Halisema hatu jafanya kosa lolote.
07:48Tutulietu.
07:49Ingawa moyo wangu ukiniambia vyingine.
07:52Nilika kwa muda.
07:53Kisha.
07:54Risasi zaidi zilipigwa.
07:56Nilimsihi tena.
07:57Kaka.
07:58Watu hawa watatua.
07:59Tukimbie.
08:01Lakini alibakia.
08:02Kama kwamba roho yake ilikuwa kimwambia baki hapo.
08:06Niliona njia pekea ya kutoka ilikuwa ni kuchomoka moja kwa moja kwa pita wale askari.
08:12Nika kimbia.
08:13Nilidhani Simba alikuwa nyumayangu lakini nilipofika nyumbani kwa mama yake na kugeuka hakuwepo.
08:21Nilitaka kurudi kwenye eneo la tukio lakini nilisikia mripuko mkubua kama bomu.
08:26Lakika chache badae.
08:28Simu yangu ilianza kuita ikisema marafiki zetu wa mewawa huko mjimwema.
08:33Simba alikuwa mmoja wao.
08:35According to eyewitness accounts and DW's geolocation data,
08:40the killers approached the video center from the south.
08:43The first attacked people around the TAG church nyasaka center.
08:48Then, they drove one minute up the road to this L-shaped building which housed the video hall.
08:54DW obtained several bullets from the two incidents.
08:58According to ballistics expert Byron Adera,
09:02such bullets are typically fired from AK-47 rifles.
09:05Judging by the morphology of the bullets that you shared in various people's hands are consistent
09:16with what you can almost certainly say are 7.62 by 39 millimeters.
09:24They are, you know, ammunition that are widely used by small arms and light weapons
09:29of the type of AK-47, which happened to the first-line, you know, majority of the first-line weapon systems
09:41in the hands of the Tanzanian police and, of course, the defense forces are, you know, AK-47 variants.
09:48But, who were the killers?
09:52In Kisesa, eyewitnesses say they were regular police in uniform.
09:57In Imjimuema, the killers wore black combat gear.
10:01We also found that after the killings in both Kisesa and Imjimuema,
10:06soldiers arrived in groups to collect the bodies.
10:09The soldiers took the bodies to Sekuturo Hospital and Bugando Medical Center.
10:14A kiddo's mother went to Bugando Medical Center to retrieve his body the day after he was killed.
10:21Kulikuwa na mili mingi iliorundikana kila mahala.
10:25Walifanikio kumpata na kutuambia tulipe shilingi laki tatu.
10:29Hiyo ilikuwa jumamosi tulipo uona mwili kwa mare ya kwanza.
10:33Lakini siku hiyo ilipita na jumapili, na jumatatu, na jumane.
10:39Ili kuwa hadi jumatano, wakati mdogo wangu walipopokea simu kutoka kwa afisa wa polisi wa wilaya.
10:46Ambaye li muambia kwamba, sasa tunaweza kuchukua mwili kwa mazishi.
10:51Tuliuchukua mwili kwa ajili ya ibada fupi nyumbani, na nyingine kanisani, na tukaenda bujore kumzika.
10:58According to an internal Mwanza police report that was leaked to DW, there were 68 deceased civilians.
11:06The police identified 58 by name, some of them shot at incidents that we investigated.
11:13The report does not however mention any abuse of the police force, but claims that there were incidents of violence by rioters.
11:22DW called the Mwanza police several times and asked the government of Tanzania for comment on the two incidents in Mwanza.
11:30We wrote to the government's spokesperson. There was no response.
11:34Remember President Sulu Hassan's statement?
11:36The DW investigation found that excessive force was used against innocent citizens, and that the government may have more questions to answer.
12:04Hundreds of people remain unaccounted for, in the wake of the 2025 election crackdown.
