Rising Political Violence Stalks African ‘Island of Peace’
- Tanzanian opposition under attack as room for dissent dwindles
- Nation enjoyed half-century of stability amid regional turmoil
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An opposition politician and a campaigner were hacked to death with machetes. A lawmaker’s car was riddled with bullets and he was left fighting for his life.
These shadowy attacks weren’t in one of East Africa’s war zones, but in Tanzania -- a country that hasn’t seen serious upheaval in decades and whose populist president, John Magufuli, is on a mission to revitalize the region’s second-biggest economy. With the unidentified perpetrators still at large, the U.S. and European Union are voicing alarm over a rising tide of politically motivated violence. The opposition is afraid.