CHADEMA party Vice Chairman John Heche has been arrested. Heche was arrested during a public rally in the popular Kariakoo market in the outskirts of Dar es Salaam. Reports indicate that Heche was arrested alongside other party officials.
According to Chadema party Director of Publicity and Communications, Brenda Jonas Rupia, Heche’s whereabouts are still unknown as they are not aware which police station he has been taken.
‘’Police, we request you to inform us whereabouts of our Vice Chairman. We had left the Central Police Station, but he was not there. Now we are heading to the Oysterbay Police Station to look for him’’ tweeted Miss Brenda Rupia.
CHADEMA was to hold a meeting today at Kariakoo after following the due process of notifying police of their rally a week ago. But unbeckoned to them, police officers stormed the meeting by preventing the opposition leaders from addressing the gathering. Heche was then roughed up and bundled into the police Land Cruiser and taken to an unknown location.
Also read: Tanzania Opposition leader Tundu Lissu arrested
Heche’s arrest comes just a fortnight after the Chadema party leader, Tundu Lissu, was also arrested while addressing a political rally in Mbinga area in Ruvuma Region.
Lissu was later charged with treason and denied bail. He is currently in police custody. He will be arraigned in court on 24th April 2025.
Already, Chadema has been disqualified from the upcoming general election scheduled for October 2025.
