Prof. Issa Shivji: Terrorising Academic Freedom in Tanzania

Author: Issa G. Shivji, Professor Emeritus, University of Dar es Salaam | Source: CODESRIA Bulletin Online, No. 10, July 2026

The Arrest of Melkisedeki Kitunzi Kaijage

• Melkisedeki Kitunzi Kaijage, an assistant lecturer in Political Science and Public Administration at the University of Dodoma (UDOM), was summoned by police on July 3, 2026.
• He presented himself on July 8 and was taken into custody for allegedly inciting people to demonstrate on the Saba Saba public holiday.
• Kaijage was held for 17 days, completely violating the law that requires police to charge an accused person within 24 hours.
• The UDOM Academic Staff Association (UDOMASA) filed a High Court application on July 12, and a judge finally ruled on July 21 that Kaijage be released on bail.

Shift to Non-Bailable Terrorism Charges

• On July 23, while his family and UDOMASA were processing his bail, Kaijage was brought to a magistrate's court on unbailable terrorism charges.
• The charge sheet alleged that on July 3, he threatened to burn public buildings and police residences in Dodoma to intimidate the public.
• The charges lacked basic details—such as the medium used or the audience—and read like a cut-and-paste template designed strictly to deny bail and intimidate academic peers.
• Kaijage was then transferred to Isanga prison.
• Notably, Kaijage was previously arrested on December 9, 2025, after classroom informers told police a lecture he delivered incited planned demonstrations.

Broader Crackdown on Academics and Citizens

• On July 3, 2026, two lecturers from St John's University of Tanzania (Johaiven Revelian Bikongolo and Titus Joseph Kituli) were also arrested on allegations of mobilizing Saba Saba demonstrations.
• One of these lecturers was arraigned after discussing historical corruption scandals during a lecture on Ethics and Good Governance.
• These events unfold in a traumatized society following unrest around the October 29, 2025 general elections, where an official Commission of Enquiry estimated 518 people were killed.
• Recent reports indicate that 30 Chadema members and leaders, including four university students, have been charged with terrorism using similar cut-and-paste templates.
• Chadema chairman Tundu Lissu also remains in prison indefinitely on a treason charge.

Reactions and Conspicuous Silence

• UDOMASA, the Tanzania Higher Learning Institutions Trade Union (THTU), and the Africa Coalition for Academic Freedom (ACAF) have issued statements condemning the arrests and demanding the release of the academics.
• Opposition parties ACT-Wazalendo and Chadema have also condemned the detentions.
• There has been a conspicuous and regrettable silence from the University of Dar es Salaam Academic Staff Association (UDASA), the very originators of the 1990 Dar es Salaam Declaration on Academic Freedom.
• The author concludes that the African intellectual community is at a crossroads and must choose whether to accept being silenced or to continue resisting authoritarian repression.