The High Court in Dar es Salaam on Thursday 18th September, heard a heated exchange between state prosecutors and Tanzanian opposition leader and CHADEMA chairperson Tundu Lissu over the validity of the treason charge he is facing.
State Attorney Nassoro Katuga, speaking on behalf of the prosecution, dismissed Lissu’s objections as unfounded, insisting the charge sheet had been properly drafted in line with Tanzanian law. He argued that Section 138 of the Criminal Procedure Act allows charges to be written in simple language as long as the accused understands the allegations. Katuga also maintained that the case is not about elections as Lissu claims but about his alleged intent to threaten the government itself. Lissu responded firmly telling the three-judge panel that “mere words cannot amount to treason.” He cited previous rulings by the Court of Appeal that require treason charges to spell out both the act and the intent behind it, not just political statements. He also dismissed the prosecution’s reliance on Section 138, stressing that the law requires treason charges to meet stricter standards under Section 135.
At the center of the dispute is whether Lissu’s comments at an April rally, including remarks about blocking the 2025 general election, can legally amount to treason. Lissu insists they cannot, “I am being held for 162 days on a charge that does not exist under Tanzanian law,” he told the court.
The exchanges, which lasted nearly five hours, also touched on whether witness statements were properly recorded and whether the charge sheet had been amended without court approval.
After hearing both sides, Presiding Judge Dastan Nduguru adjourned the matter to Monday September 22nd, when the bench is expected to rule on Lissu’s objections.
Lissu was arrested in April in Mbinga shortly after addressing a public rally. His case has drawn regional and international attention because treason carries the death penalty in Tanzania, though the punishment has not been applied in decades.