On December 9, 2025, Tanzanian police arrested Melkizedeki Tunzi Kaijage, an assistant lecturer in social sciences at the University of Dodoma, amid a crackdown on planned post-election protests. Kaijage allegedly “incited students to participate” in protests during an in-class lecture in December 2025.

Police conducted a search of Kaijage’s home early on the day of planned demonstrations against alleged democratic backsliding. The protests, banned by the government, were organized to demand government accountability for deaths and disappearances following the disputed October 2025 elections. The police arrested Kaijage and interrogated him at a police station before releasing him on bail.

Scholars at Risk is concerned about the arrest of a scholar for exercising his freedom of expression — conduct that is expressly protected by international human rights instruments including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. State authorities must respect nonviolent expressive conduct and refrain from actions intended to punish, restrict, or deter such conduct. In addition to the harm to the immediate victim, such actions undermine academic freedom and democratic society generally.

Sources:
https://thechanzo.com/2025/12/16/conflicting-accounts-emerge-over-university-lecturers-arrest-for-incitement-following-a-classroom-lecture/
https://www.hrw.org/news/2025/12/08/tanzania-crackdown-ahead-of-planned-protests
https://thechanzo.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Letter-UDOM-FINAL.pdf