Tanzania: counting the dead is only the beginning

A national total cannot answer the questions belonging to each family. An inquiry has to do more than produce a number.

OPINION · THE DAILY PULSE EDITORIAL

A death count is a way to acknowledge the scale of a crisis. It is also a painfully incomplete description of it. Each case needs an account of what happened; each survivor needs a path to care; each allegation needs a fair investigation. Tanzania’s election-violence inquiry should be judged by how far it moves from counting harm to answering for it.

Human Rights Watch reported in March 2026 that it had documented the killing of 31 people who were not participating in protests and received credible information about 19 more such deaths. Its wider estimate that hundreds may have been killed was preliminary. The documented cases, additional credible reports and national estimate are different categories of evidence and should not be added together as if they were a final count.

A count is necessary. It is not the whole investigation

In its May 2026 assessment, Human Rights Watch said the commission chair reported 518 deaths across 11 regions, while acknowledging that the figure might not be conclusive. HRW also said the full report had not been made public at that time and criticised the limited assessment of security-force conduct. That describes the position reported in May, rather than claiming no subsequent development has occurred.

Our view is that an effective inquiry must do more than record how many people died. It should establish what happened in particular cases, evaluate responsibility through a fair process and give families usable information. A national total cannot tell a parent why a child never came home or tell a survivor who will pay for long-term care.

Follow the recommendations into everyday life

HRW noted positive commission recommendations on medical care and psychosocial support. Such commitments deserve implementation that people can actually access. A survivor should not have to navigate years of administrative uncertainty to obtain treatment for an injury sustained during election unrest.

Authorities also face the responsibility of investigating violence and damage to property. That work should proceed alongside scrutiny of security forces. Separating peaceful activity, criminal conduct and the actions of bystanders is essential. A person passing through a street is not automatically responsible for what a crowd elsewhere has done.

The most convincing next steps would be public findings with necessary protections for witnesses, a clear timetable for independent case investigations, and transparent information about remedies. Officials accused of misconduct should have fair procedures too. Accountability loses legitimacy when it becomes either blanket immunity or blanket guilt.

Tanzania’s lesson reaches beyond one election. A commission earns public confidence through the answers it provides and the harm it helps repair. Citizens should be able to judge that work through evidence, rather than being expected to accept that the creation of an inquiry has already resolved the crisis.