ISIBANIA, Tanzania – John Wegesa Heche, the Deputy Chairperson of Tanzania’s main opposition party CHADEMA, was arrested on Saturday at the Isibania One Stop Border Post while attempting to cross into Kenya.
According to his party, Heche was leading a CHADEMA delegation to attend the funeral of Kenya’s former Prime Minister, Raila Amolo Odinga, which is scheduled for Sunday.
In a strongly worded statement, CHADEMA accused the administration of President Samia Suluhu Hassan of political persecution. The party alleged that immigration officers detained Heche and confiscated his passport without providing any legal justification.
“The government of Samia Suluhu has once again shown its intolerance for political opposition by illegally detaining our Deputy Chairperson,” the party’s statement read. “This is a blatant act of political harassment aimed at silencing dissent.”
The incident at the key border crossing has raised tensions and highlights the ongoing friction between the government and the opposition in Tanzania. As of the latest reports, the Tanzanian government has not issued an official statement regarding the reasons for Heche’s detention.
The arrest prevents a senior opposition figure from paying his respects to Raila Odinga, a veteran politician and a symbolic figure for opposition movements across East Africa.
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