Samia Suluhu Hasan won 98% of the vote amid unrest

President Samia Suluhu Hassan has been declared the winner of Tanzania’s presidential election, securing another term in office amid days of unrest across the country.

According to the electoral commission, Samia won 98 percent of the vote, nearly outpacing the 32 million ballots cast in Wednesday’s election.

International observers have expressed concern over the lack of transparency and widespread unrest that has reportedly left hundreds dead and injured.

A nationwide internet blackout makes it difficult to verify the death toll. The government tried to play down the scale of the violence – and authorities extended curfews in an attempt to quell the unrest.

“I hereby declare Samia Suluhu Hassan the winner of the Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) presidential election,” said Jacobs Mwambegele, the election manager, as he announced the results on Saturday morning.

In Tanzania’s semi-autonomous Zanzibar archipelago – which elects its own government and leader – CCM’s Hussein Mwini, who is the incumbent president, won with nearly 80% of the vote.

The opposition in Zanzibar said there had been “large-scale fraud”, the AP news agency reported.

Protests continued on Friday as demonstrators in the port city of Dar es Salaam and other cities took to the streets, tearing down Samia posters and attacking police and polling stations despite warnings from the army chief to end the unrest.

The demonstrations were led mostly by young protesters who denounced the election as unfair.

They accuse the government of undermining democracy by suppressing the main opposition leaders – one is in prison and another has been expelled on a technicality.

A spokesman for the opposition Chadema party told AFP on Friday that “around 700” people had been killed in clashes with security forces, while a diplomatic source in Tanzania told the BBC there was credible evidence that at least 500 people had died.

Foreign Minister Mahmoud Kombo Thabit described the violence as “a few isolated pockets of incidents here and there” and said “security forces acted very quickly and decisively to deal with the situation”.

There were two main opposition contenders – Tundu Lisu, who is being held on treason charges he denies, and Luhaga Mpina of the ACT-Wazalendo party – but he was ruled out on legal technicalities.

Sixteen fringe parties, none of which historically had significant public support, were allowed to run.

Samia’s ruling party, CCM, dominates the country’s politics and has never lost an election since independence.

Ahead of the election, human rights groups condemned the government crackdown, with Amnesty International pointing to a “wave of terror” including enforced disappearances, torture and extrajudicial killings of opposition figures.

The government denied the claims, and officials said the election would be free and fair.

Samia took office in 2021 as Tanzania’s first female president following the death of President John Magufuli.