Tanzania’s opposition, once flat on its back, is now on its knees

The mostCCMCCM recent Tanzanian general election, held in 2020, made a mockery of democracy. Agents of the ruling party stuffed ballot boxes, pre-marked voting slips and erected fake polling stations. Police officers rounded up opposition candidates and their supporters. To hide the fraud, the authorities shut down the internet, gagged journalists and suppressed rights groups. The few opposition supporters brave enough to protest were shot at. At least 14 were killed. John Magufuli, then Tanzania’s president, duly won re-election with 84% of the vote. The did even better, securing all but seven of the directly elected seats in the country’s parliament.Overturning such a whacking majority in a single electoral cycle would be tough anywhere. Yet, when Tanzanians return to the polls next year, the opposition ought not despair. The execrable Mr Magufuli is dead. His successor, Samia Suluhu Hassan, is more tolerant of criticism.