Tanzania’s main opposition party, CHADEMA, has issued an urgent public statement revealing that its Vice Chairman, John Heche, is in critical health after three days in police custody at Mtumba Police Station in Dodoma.
The party reports that Heche has not eaten for days, is suffering from severe chest and body pain, high fever, and is unable to walk or stand.
In a desperate plea, CHADEMA has called on police to immediately transfer Heche to a hospital for emergency medical care.
The statement, released Thursday, October 30, 2025, emphasized that “the life and dignity of a person is a matter that must be taken with utmost seriousness.”
Heche’s detention comes amid a widening government crackdown following Tanzania’s highly controversial general election on October 29, in which President Samia Suluhu Hassan was the only presidential candidate.
Suluhu, who succeeded the late John Pombe Magufuli in 2021, is expected to be officially declared the winner by the National Elections Commission.
The election has been widely condemned by human rights groups and international observers as a “sham” and a “coronation.” In the aftermath, spontaneous protests have erupted across the country, with Amnesty International already reporting fatalities.
In response, Suluhu’s administration has announced a curfew, ordered civil servants to work from home, and indefinitely postponed the reopening of universities, which was scheduled for November 3.
The situation highlights growing political tensions in Tanzania, where the government faces accusations of systematically crushing dissent to ensure an uncontested victory.
With CHADEMA’s Chairman, Tundu Lissu, also in police custody, the health crisis of John Heche has become a focal point of national and international concern over human rights and democratic freedoms in the East African nation.
