The Chairman of the opposition party Chadema, Tundu Lissu, has requested that his ongoing treason case be broadcast live to prevent incidents of his supporters being beaten outside the court and to allow them to follow proceedings remotely.
Lissu also objected to the prosecution’s repeated reference to him as “our colleague,” insisting that he is not their colleague but a defendant in a criminal treason case.
He made the request today, September 18, 2025, before a panel of three judges led by Judge Dunstan Ndunguru, sitting with Judge James Karayemaha and Judge Ferdinand Kiwonde, just before the prosecution was scheduled to respond to his preliminary objections regarding the validity of the charge sheet and witness statements.
“Honourable judges, I am ready to proceed, but before we continue, there are two issues I must raise. You may consider one of them minor, but to me, it is significant,” Lissu said.
He explained that he had submitted a written request to the court registrar on September 4, 2025, but by September 18 he had not received a response. “Honourable judges, you said this matter would be clarified, but to this day nothing has been said. Even though I am in prison, I receive reports that people are being beaten outside. This information has spread worldwide,” he claimed.
“To resolve this problem, these proceedings should be broadcast live so that people do not have to come to court and risk being beaten by police. What is happening is unhealthy for the country,” he added.
On the issue of being referred to as “our colleague,” Lissu argued that State Attorney General Nassoro Katuga had repeatedly used the term in court. “Mr. Katuga keeps calling me ‘our colleague,’ not just today but many times before. I am not his colleague; I want to be addressed as the accused,” he stated.
Judge Ndunguru directed that Lissu would henceforth be addressed in his legal capacity as the accused. Responding, Katuga explained that he had used the phrase because Lissu himself had once said he had worked in law for 20 years, and within the profession such terms were common. “I did not mean he is on our side,” Katuga clarified, adding that he referred to Lissu as a colleague because “without him there is no case, and without us he also cannot proceed.”
Judge Ndunguru concluded that the court would provide further instructions on the request for live broadcasting.
In this case, the prosecution alleges that on April 3, 2025, in Dar es Salaam, Lissu incited the public to obstruct the holding of Tanzania’s general election by stating:
“They said this position amounts to rebellion, and it is true because we are saying we will block the election, we will incite rebellion. That is the way to bring change… so we are going to disrupt this election seriously, we are going to cause real chaos.”