Tanzania’s main opposition party CHADEMA has raised fresh concerns over the safety of its members after David Djumbe, a close aide to detained opposition leader, Tundu Lissu, was found injured following what party leaders describe as an abduction by unknown men in Dar es Salaam.

According to CHADEMA officials, Djumbe was allegedly taken in the early hours of Thursday near his home in the Bunju area while returning from his daily activities with a friend.

Speaking after the incident, Djumbe said two vehicles blocked the car they were using before several men forcefully pulled him out.

“A Probox overtook us and blocked us in front, then another vehicle blocked us from behind. Many people came out, around six of them. They removed my friend from the other side and carried me by force,” Djumbe said. He claimed the men handcuffed him, beat him with what he described as gun butts and repeatedly threatened his life.

“They were hitting me on the head and saying, ‘Today is your last day,’” he said, while showing injuries and swollen hands allegedly caused by the handcuffs. Djumbe added that boda boda riders who witnessed the incident began following the vehicle, something he believes helped save him. “They started saying the boda bodas were following them and increasing in number. That is when I tried to escape,” he said.

Police in Dar es Salaam later confirmed that Djumbe had been found safe and said investigations were ongoing to establish who took him and for what reason.

However, CHADEMA leaders questioned the conduct of police officers following the incident. Party Deputy Secretary General Amani Golugwa said officers from Oysterbay Police Station arrived at the party offices asking to remove Djumbe’s handcuffs before seeing him.

“My first question was, how did they know he was handcuffed? My second question was, if he escaped, whose custody had he escaped from?” Golugwa said. Golugwa added that the unanswered questions had deepened suspicions surrounding the incident. “What happened yesterday was an abduction, an act of criminality. There is no other name for it,” he said.

The incident comes at a time of increased political tension in Tanzania following the arrest and continued detention of CHADEMA chairman Tundu Lissu, who remains behind bars facing treason charges.

Tanzania has also faced growing criticism from rights groups and international leaders over alleged political repression, disappearances and restrictions on opposition activities following the country’s 2025 general election.