Tanzania remains gripped by the aftermath of its worst post-election violence in decades, a crisis that has shaken its long-standing reputation as a beacon of peace and stability in Africa.
It has also earned the country rare rebukes from regional and continental organisations.
In a defiant inauguration speech on Monday, President Samia Suluhu Hassan said the election was fair and transparent but acknowledged people had died during the protests. She blamed foreign actors for the deadly protests.
The death toll is not clear but families continue to search for or bury relatives killed following the recent disputed poll, which Samia won with 98% of the vote.
Samia, the soft-spoken leader whose calm and gentle demeanor initially inspired optimism when she assumed power in 2021 after the sudden death in office of her authoritarian predecessor, John Magufuli, has seen this perspective change dramatically.
Samia has pushed Tanzania to its thick winter of protests, instability and uncertainty, Prof Peter Kagwanja, a Kenyan policy analyst, told the BBC.
The protests, organized by young people, drew clear parallels with global Gen Z-led mobilisations against entrenched leadership and unresponsive governments.
Analysts say while the unrest was unprecedented for Tanzania, it was preceded by a tense political climate marked by stalled reforms, years of simmering youth anger, power tussles within the ruling party, and sustained persecution of opposition leaders.
Veteran Tanzanian journalist Jenerali Ulimwengu described how the recent election was the boiling point reached by societal soups that have been cooking for decades in a slow cooker without being noticed by an absent-minded rulership...
As tensions escalated and violence erupted, many were left questioning the future of governance and civil liberties in Tanzania as Samia now faces mounting international scrutiny.
