CODESRIA Bulletin Online, No. 10, July 2026
by Issa G. Shivji, Professor Emeritus, University of Dar es Salaam
On 3 July 2026, Melkisedeki Kitunzi Kaijage, an assistant lecturer in Political Science and Public Administration at the University of Dodoma (UDOM), was summoned to appear at the police station. He presented himself there on 8 July, accompanied by the deputy chairman of the University of Dodoma Academic Staff Association (UDOMASA), a lawyer by profession. Kaijage was taken into police custody allegedly for having incited people to demonstrate on the public holiday called Saba Saba, held on 7 July. This was the second time Kaijage had been arrested. ‘On December 9, 2025, he was arrested over a lecture delivered the previous day, after informers in his classroom allegedly told police he was inciting demonstrations planned for that date’ (Kuwanda 2026).
Kaijage remained in custody for seventeen days, contrary to the law, which requires the police to charge an accused person in court within twenty-four hours. UDOMASA filed an application in the High Court on 12 July. The case was eventually heard on 21 July. The judge ruled that Kaijage be released on bail. While the family and UDOMASA were processing bail, on 23 July, Kaijage was brought to the magistrate’s court on charges of terrorism, an offence which is not bailable. The particulars of the offence on the charge sheet read thus:
MELKISEDEK KITUNZI KAIJAGE, on 03rd day of July 2026 at the University of Dodoma area within Dodoma Region, committed a terrorist act to wit; threatening to burn public buildings and police residences within the United Republic of Tanzania, with the aim of seriously intimidating members of the Public of the United Republic of Tanzania.
