Arbitrary police interference in opposition activities in Tanzania has been a significant public concern since the re-introduction of multi-party democracy in the early 1990s. Local and international human rights bodies have frequently reported on the suppression of opposition activities, especially during the election periods. However, there is no comprehensive analysis of the legal and political factors behind these actions and their broader implications for Tanzania's future policy and governance. Using a cross-sectional design, this paper therefore investigated the causes of police force interference in opposition political rallies in Tanzania, its impact, and the challenges facing the police force in discharging its constitutional mandates. Primary and secondary data were used to gather relevant information. Findings show that police interference is primarily motivated by political agendas, with the ruling party leveraging law enforcement as a mechanism to suppress dissent and maintain control over the political landscape. The selective enforcement of laws, particularly the Public Order Act 1983, severely restricted the operational space for opposition parties and diminished democratic participation. These findings imply that; constant police interferences erode public trust in the police thus compromise its ability to discharge its constitutional mandates in a manner that respects civil liberties. Also, shrinks democratic space which is detrimental for national development. This paper recommends a reevaluation of the relationship between politics and policing in Tanzania to ensure that the police fulfill their role as impartial enforcers of the law and safeguard the democratic rights of all citizens.
| Published in | Journal of Public Policy and Administration (Volume 9, Issue 1) |
| DOI | 10.11648/j.jppa.20250901.15 |
| Page(s) | 46-50 |
| Creative Commons |
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited. |
| Copyright |
Copyright © The Author(s), 2025. Published by Science Publishing Group |
Police Interference, Opposition Political Activities, Democracy
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APA Style
Mpehongwa, G., Titus, B. (2025). Police Interference in Opposition Activities in Tanzania. Journal of Public Policy and Administration, 9(1), 46-50. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jppa.20250901.15
ACS Style
Mpehongwa, G.; Titus, B. Police Interference in Opposition Activities in Tanzania. J. Public Policy Adm. 2025, 9(1), 46-50. doi: 10.11648/j.jppa.20250901.15
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Download@article{10.11648/j.jppa.20250901.15,
author = {Gasper Mpehongwa and Brightius Titus},
title = {Police Interference in Opposition Activities in Tanzania
},
journal = {Journal of Public Policy and Administration},
volume = {9},
number = {1},
pages = {46-50},
doi = {10.11648/j.jppa.20250901.15},
url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jppa.20250901.15},
eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.jppa.20250901.15},
abstract = {Arbitrary police interference in opposition activities in Tanzania has been a significant public concern since the re-introduction of multi-party democracy in the early 1990s. Local and international human rights bodies have frequently reported on the suppression of opposition activities, especially during the election periods. However, there is no comprehensive analysis of the legal and political factors behind these actions and their broader implications for Tanzania's future policy and governance. Using a cross-sectional design, this paper therefore investigated the causes of police force interference in opposition political rallies in Tanzania, its impact, and the challenges facing the police force in discharging its constitutional mandates. Primary and secondary data were used to gather relevant information. Findings show that police interference is primarily motivated by political agendas, with the ruling party leveraging law enforcement as a mechanism to suppress dissent and maintain control over the political landscape. The selective enforcement of laws, particularly the Public Order Act 1983, severely restricted the operational space for opposition parties and diminished democratic participation. These findings imply that; constant police interferences erode public trust in the police thus compromise its ability to discharge its constitutional mandates in a manner that respects civil liberties. Also, shrinks democratic space which is detrimental for national development. This paper recommends a reevaluation of the relationship between politics and policing in Tanzania to ensure that the police fulfill their role as impartial enforcers of the law and safeguard the democratic rights of all citizens.
},
year = {2025}
}
TY - JOUR T1 - Police Interference in Opposition Activities in Tanzania AU - Gasper Mpehongwa AU - Brightius Titus Y1 - 2025/02/26 PY - 2025 N1 - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jppa.20250901.15 DO - 10.11648/j.jppa.20250901.15 T2 - Journal of Public Policy and Administration JF - Journal of Public Policy and Administration JO - Journal of Public Policy and Administration SP - 46 EP - 50 PB - Science Publishing Group SN - 2640-2696 UR - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jppa.20250901.15 AB - Arbitrary police interference in opposition activities in Tanzania has been a significant public concern since the re-introduction of multi-party democracy in the early 1990s. Local and international human rights bodies have frequently reported on the suppression of opposition activities, especially during the election periods. However, there is no comprehensive analysis of the legal and political factors behind these actions and their broader implications for Tanzania's future policy and governance. Using a cross-sectional design, this paper therefore investigated the causes of police force interference in opposition political rallies in Tanzania, its impact, and the challenges facing the police force in discharging its constitutional mandates. Primary and secondary data were used to gather relevant information. Findings show that police interference is primarily motivated by political agendas, with the ruling party leveraging law enforcement as a mechanism to suppress dissent and maintain control over the political landscape. The selective enforcement of laws, particularly the Public Order Act 1983, severely restricted the operational space for opposition parties and diminished democratic participation. These findings imply that; constant police interferences erode public trust in the police thus compromise its ability to discharge its constitutional mandates in a manner that respects civil liberties. Also, shrinks democratic space which is detrimental for national development. This paper recommends a reevaluation of the relationship between politics and policing in Tanzania to ensure that the police fulfill their role as impartial enforcers of the law and safeguard the democratic rights of all citizens. VL - 9 IS - 1 ER -
Department of Social and Behavioural Sciences, Kilimanjaro Christian University College, Moshi, Tanzania
Department of Security Studies, Institute of Accountancy, Arusha, Tanzania
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