Tanzanian authorities have arrested and questioned a university lecturer over comments allegedly made during a lecture that were interpreted as critical of the government, raising fresh concerns about academic freedom and free expression in the country.
The University of Dodoma Academic Staff Association (UDOMASA) confirmed the incident in a memo circulated to its members on Friday. According to the association, the unnamed lecturer was taken in for questioning after remarks made during a lecture on December 8 were secretly recorded and forwarded to the police.
UDOMASA Secretary General Isaac Mahenge said the lecturer was arrested on December 9, his home searched, and later interrogated at a police station before being released on bail.
The lecturer is accused of making statements during a class session held between 10:30 am and 1:30 pm that allegedly encouraged students to take part in demonstrations planned for December 9.
Academic staff at the university have expressed alarm over the incident, describing it as part of a growing pattern of intolerance towards dissenting views and freedom of speech.
According to Mahenge, the remarks were allegedly recorded by an informant inside the classroom and sent to senior authorities, who then ordered the lecturer’s arrest. He warned that the incident signals a troubling environment in which lecture halls may now be under surveillance.
“We urge our members to exercise extreme caution as we continue to assess the situation and decide on the next steps,” Mahenge said.
Human rights advocate Gavriel E. Toviel, who shared the association’s memo on social media, described the arrest as a serious escalation of state interference in academic spaces. He said armed police reportedly raided the lecturer’s home at night, searched the premises, confiscated personal items, and detained him over remarks made during a university lecture.
The arrest comes amid heightened security measures in Tanzania following unrest linked to the October 29 General Election. Human rights groups have reported widespread violence during the post-election period, with allegations that hundreds of people were killed, though the government has not released official casualty figures.
International pressure has continued to mount, with several human rights organisations urging Tanzanian authorities to account for the deaths and allow families to bury their loved ones.
Last week, global rights groups, including the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), called on the UN Human Rights Council to address what they described as a rapidly deteriorating human rights situation in Tanzania.
The groups cited media restrictions, internet shutdowns, and limited access to information as obstacles to verifying the true scale of the violence, warning that the actual death toll could be higher than reported.
They further accused authorities of deliberately blocking journalists from covering election-related protests, intensifying fears about shrinking civic and democratic space in the country.