Global rights watchdogs are accusing the government of Tanzania of a crackdown on critics of the country’s controversial port deal with a Dubai firm.
Amnesty International and the Human Rights Watch (HRW) say authorities have arrested critics of the deal, which some opponents say it places Tanzania on the losing end.
And the rights watchers say the country has turned to Magufuli-era suppression of dissent to silence mounting opposition to the deal given to DP World, an Emirati logistics firm.
Willibrod Slaa, a former opposition politician who later served as Tanzania’s ambassador to Sweden under ex-president John Magufuli, on Sunday became the highest-profile personality to be detained by police over the controversial agreement that has polarised public opinion over its possible implications for Tanzania’s control of its ports.
Mr Slaa, lawyer Boniface Mwabukusi and Mdude Nyagali, a political activist, are still behind bars as police launched a fresh crackdown on critics of the agreement recently given backing by the High Court on Thursday last week.
Source: The East Africa
