AU, SADC, ECOWAS  risk being seen as ceremonial mascots following Tanzania elections – Mukwita

AU, SADC, ECOWAS  risk being seen as ceremonial mascots following Tanzania elections – Mukwita

By Angela Moonga

Zambia’s former ambassador to Germany Anthony Mukwita says the African Union (AU), SADC, even ECOWAS—once imagined as Africa’s democratic watchdogs—now risk being seen as ceremonial mascots.

Reflecting on the Tanzania elections where that country’s President Samia Suluhu Hassan continued in office after barring fellow opposition leaders from contesting, Mukwita argued that Tanzania’s election resembled less a democratic celebration and more a cautionary horror flick minus the popcorn.

“What should’ve been a routine civic exercise turned into a political purge: arrests, disappearances, and deaths. Ballots were cast, yes, but many were drowned out by the sound of sirens and the silence of vanished voices. The pre-election atmosphere was already thick with dread. Amnesty International and the UN had sounded the alarm: civic space was shrinking, repression rising,” Mukwita stated.

“By voting day, nearly a hundred opposition figures had either vanished, been jailed, or met suspicious ends. Their names now circulate in hushed tones, mourned by families while the continent watches with a mix of horror and déjà vu.”

Among the people he mentioned as having faced arrests included Chadema’s presidential candidate Tundu Lissu, was detained in April 2025 and faces treason charges, with trial continuing under heavy scrutiny.

https://dailyrevelationzambia.com/au-sadc-ecowas-risk-being-seen-as-ceremonial-mascots-following-tanzania-elections-mukwita/