Alice Magabe, wife of CHADEMA chairperson Tundu Lissu, gave testimony on Monday before the European Parliament’s Subcommittee on Human Rights (DROI) as part of a hearing on Tanzania’s human rights situation.

Magabe appeared alongside human rights defenders, European Commission officials, and European External Action Service (EEAS) representatives to address what the panel described as growing political repression and enforced disappearances. Lissu, the main opposition leader, has been in prison awaiting trial on treason charges that his supporters and several EU lawmakers have called politically motivated.

The hearing coincided with two developments: Tanzania’s repeated refusal to allow a DROI mission into the country, and the European Parliament’s vote the same day to object to the European Commission’s draft decision on financing Tanzania’s 2026 annual action plan.

 

Agnes Polepole Lendov, sister of former Tanzania ambassador to Cuba, Humphrey Polepole, who was abducted in October 2025 and remains missing, also testified.

The European Parliament has previously passed resolutions on post-election violence and Lissu’s detention, and earlier rejected the Commission’s 2025 aid plan for Tanzania.

Tanzanian authorities maintain that ”legal processes are being followed” and have rejected foreign interference in domestic affairs.