Tanzania’s Election Violence Exposes Global Threats to Sovereignty and Justice

In Tanzania, a country rich with history and potential, recent events have laid bare a disturbing assault on democratic principles that echoes far beyond East Africa’s borders. After a contested general election marred by credible allegations of fraud, the government’s violent crackdown on protesters has resulted in the deaths of possibly thousands—a stark reminder that when governments forsake free and fair elections, it is ordinary citizens who pay the price. At St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Dar es Salaam, Archbishop Jude Thaddaeus Ruwa’ichi delivered a piercing rebuke: “The punishment for protests is not to shoot and kill.” This statement demands...