LITTLE – KNOWN FACTS ABOUT TUNDU LISSU’S NEAR – FATAL ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT
The assassination attempt on Tundu Lissu happened in 2017, during the presidency of John Pombe Magufuli.
Lissu was shot outside his residence in Dodoma on 7 September 2017, making it one of the most politically shocking events of Magufuli’s first term in office.
1. He was shot 16 times — but the bullets were clustered in a way meant to kill instantly
Most people hear “16 bullets.”
What’s less known is that many shots were concentrated around his abdomen and lower torso, a pattern trauma surgeons say is typically intended to cause massive internal bleeding and organ failure within minutes.
2. Surgeons said it was one of the worst gunshot traumas they had ever seen in a surviving patient
Doctors in Dodoma and later Nairobi described his injuries as:
shattered bones
torn internal organs
destroyed soft tissue
extensive loss of blood
He reportedly arrived at the hospital with barely measurable blood pressure.
3. His intestines were perforated multiple times
Multiple bullets passed through his abdominal cavity, tearing sections of his intestines.
Even after emergency surgery, he suffered weeks of infection risk due to leakage and repeated internal repairs.
4. He underwent around 26 surgeries — some lasting over 10 hours
The lesser-known part is how long and grueling these operations were.
Surgeons had to:
remove shrapnel
repair shredded organs
rebuild bone sections
stop recurrent internal bleeding
Some surgeries involved reopening previously closed wounds because of complications.
5. He carries at least one bullet that doctors could not remove
A bullet lodged deep in his lower back was considered too risky to extract — attempting removal could have damaged nerves or major arteries.
To this day, he lives with that metal fragment inside him.
6. He clinically “crashed” more than once during treatment
Accounts from the medical team indicate he went into critical decline multiple times, requiring emergency resuscitation measures.
He was at the edge of survivability for several days.
7. His blood loss was catastrophic — he received unusually high transfusion volumes
He reportedly required dozens of units of blood, far more than a standard trauma case.
Doctors described his survival as “biologically unlikely.”
8. Rehabilitation was brutally painful
Because of shattered bones, repeated surgeries, and nerve damage, he spent months:
learning to sit again
regaining leg strength
managing chronic pain
He also developed severe scar tissue restrictions that required physiotherapy just to regain partial mobility.
9. The vehicle he was in was so riddled with bullets that investigators struggled to determine the exact firing angles
Photos (publicly available) show clusters of bullet holes on both sides of the car.
The volume of fire suggested:
multiple attackers
synchronized shooting
close-range intent to finish the target
This is rarely talked about publicly in detail.
10. His survival required medical coordination across two countries
He was:
1. Stabilized in Dodoma
2. Rushed to Nairobi’s Aga Khan Hospital
3. Later flown to Europe for long-term reconstructive treatment
At each stage, doctors reportedly did not expect him to live long enough for the next transfer.
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