Zimbabwean opposition politician Linda Masarira has criticised Southern African heads of state who attended the inauguration of Tanzania’s President Samia Suluhu Hassan, calling their presence a cowardly betrayal of democratic values.
Masarira said it was disappointing to see regional leaders legitimising what she described as a flawed election marred by violence, intimidation, and internet shutdowns.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa was absent from the ceremony, with Vice President Constantino Chiwenga attending on his behalf.
The 2025 Tanzanian election, in which hundreds were reportedly killed in election-related violence, was condemned by the SADC Electoral Observation Mission (SEOM) for failing to meet democratic standards.
The SADC leaders in attendance were Zambia’s President Hakainde Hichilema and Mozambique’s President Daniel Chapo.
Presidents Évariste Ndayishimiye of Burundi and Hassan Sheikh Mohamud of Somalia, both non-SADC members, also attended the ceremony in Dodoma.
Their presence has been widely viewed by critics as an implicit endorsement of an election process that undermined democratic principles and silenced dissenting voices. Said Masarira:
“President Hichilema’s presence in Dodoma was a stunning act of moral surrender. This is the same leader who, just two years prior, took a principled stand by boycotting the inauguration of Zimbabwe’s President Emmerson Mnangagwa over alleged electoral flaws.
“His decision to then legitimize a process in Tanzania where over 800 people were reportedly killed, the internet was shut down, and a dictator claimed 98% of the vote, reveals a measure of morality that is not based on principle, but on political convenience.
“As some critics have rightly pointed out, this can not be explained away by ‘business reasons’; Zambia’s trade with Zimbabwe is significantly larger than with Tanzania, exposing the hypocrisy of such an excuse.
“Hichilema, the Chairperson of the SADC Organ on Politics, Defence and Security, did not just attend a ceremony; he actively sanitized a sham.”
Masarira argued, however, that to focus solely on President Hichilema’s attendance would be to miss the forest for the trees, as the broader issue lies with the collective failure of regional leaders to uphold and defend democratic principles in the face of election-related violence and suppression of opposition voices. She said:
“The betrayal in Tanzania is a mere echo of the SADC’s catastrophic failure in Mozambique. There, earlier this year, the world watched as the FRELIMO party was declared the winner of an election that independent observers, including the European Union, concluded was neither free nor fair.
“The opposition leader, Venancio Mondlane, decried a ‘silent genocide’ of abductions and executions. The response from the state was a violent crackdown that left more than 300 people dead, including children.”
Masarira claimed that SADC failed to take any action to address the killing of innocent civilians following Mozambique’s elections.
She added that by attending the inauguration of FRELIMO’s Daniel Chapo, SADC leaders effectively signalled their support for ruling parties over their own citizens, offering neither condemnation nor meaningful intervention—only a complicit presence that, in her view, legitimises the violence. Said Masarira:
“This is the true measure of morality in today’s SADC: a consistent choice to protect incumbents and sacrifice citizens.
“The region’s dominant liberation movements from ZANU-PF in Zimbabwe to Frelimo in Mozambique and the Chama Cha Mapinduzi in Tanzania have formed a mutual protection pact.
“They have systematically weakened regional institutions, most notably the SADC Tribunal, which was stripped of its power to protect human rights, leaving citizens with no recourse against authoritarian regimes.
“Within this club, solidarity is not for the voter whose will is disregarded, nor for the protester shot in the street, but for the fellow president clinging to power.
“The consequences of this moral decay are devastating. It emboldens autocrats, deepens the disillusionment of the youth, and sows the seeds of future instability and conflict.
“We are creating a region where ‘might makes’ right, and the promise of democracy is a cruel lie told every election cycle.”
Leave a Reply Cancel reply