Tundu Antiphas Mughwai Lissu (born 20 January 1968 in Ikungi district,Singida) is a Tanzanian lawyer,CHADEMA politician,anti-corruption activist and former Member of Parliament for Singida East constituency between 2010 and 2020.[1] He is the current chairman of CHADEMA,Tanzania's leading opposition political party.
He is also the former president of Tanganyika Law Society (TLS),[2] the bar association of Tanzania mainland,and chief legal officer for Tanzanian opposition party CHADEMA.
Early life and education
Lissu was born in Mahambe village in Ikungi District,Tanzania. He attended Ilboru Secondary School in Arusha and graduated in 1983.[1]
Career
Legal career and corruption critic
Tundu Lissu chatting with former president of TLS John Seka,during the Tanganyika Law Society (TLS) Annual Conference and General Meeting of 2016 in Arusha
Lissu began his career in public interest advocacy. He worked with the Lawyers Environmental Action Team (LEAT) and the World Resources Institute as a lawyer and worked on various land rights issues with regards to protected areas and mining.[3]
Over the years Lissu has built a reputation as a prominent lawyer,fierce opposition figure and outspoken government critic,especially with his repeated confrontations with the government in President Magufuli's tenure in the country.[4][5] Lissu was responsible for the research and preparation of the document that revealed the involvement of the state's high-ranking officials in plundering of public funds,known as the 'List of Shame'. The politician was arrested at least six times in 2017 alone,accused of insulting the president[6][7] and disturbing public order,among other charges. On 23 August 2017,his home was searched by the police after he was arrested and questioned over allegations of sedition and insulting President John Magufuli,calling him a 'petty dictator'.[8] His arrest came [9] after he revealed to the public[10] that a plane bought for the countries national carrierAir Tanzania had been impounded in Canada over unpaid government debts.[11][12]
Political career
Tundu Lissu addressing the parliament of Tanzania in Dodoma
Lissu entered politics in 2010 by winning the member of parliament seat for Singida East.
Assassination attempt and exile from Tanzania
Tundu Lissu with wife Alicia in Belgium,where he was undergoing treatment and rehabilitation
In the afternoon of 7 September 2017 during a parliamentary session break,Tundu Lissu,whilst in his car,was shot multiple times and seriously injured by unknown assailants in the parking lot of his parliamentary residence in Area D,Dodoma.[13][14] This happened a few weeks after Lissu indicated publicly that certain people instructed by IGP Sirro had been stalking him for weeks.[15][16][17]
Tundu Lissu received emergency treatment for some hours at Dodoma General Hospital[18] before,in fear of his safety,was air-lifted to Aga Khan Hospital in Nairobi,Kenya,[19][20] where he was hospitalized for months[21][22] before being flown to Belgium to undergo further treatment and rehabilitation.[23] He was hospitalized at the Leuven University Hospital in Gasthuisberg,[24] where he reportedly underwent 19 operations by mid-March 2018.[25]
Lissu's party officials openly addressed their concerns to the public and to President Magufuli,who was then chairman of the nation's ruling party CCM,that the attempt on Lissu's life was politically motivated[26] and just another retaliation on the lawmaker's repeated run-ins with the government. While President Magufuli condemned the attack,he was "shocked" and "saddened" by the shooting and was praying for Lissu's "quick recovery",[27] several Tanzanian politicians have commented about the attack,[28][29] with CHADEMA Chairman Freeman Mbowe and opposition figure Zitto Kabwe hinting on the necessity of having a foreign body man the investigation on the attack.[30] No one was convicted for the attack on his life.[31]
Return to Tanzania
Lissu in Kibaigwa,Dodoma,during the 2015 general elections campaign
On 27 July 2020,Lissu returned to Tanzania after three years in exile to contest in the general elections.[32]
In January 2023,Tundu Lissu announced that he had returned to Tanzania after five years of exile in Belgium.[33]
He was arrested in separate occasions in August and September 2024.[34][35] On 22 January 2025,he was elected the chairman of CHADEMA Tanzanian leading opposition party beating the incumbent Freeman Mbowe,by a close 31 votes.
Lissu returned to Tanzania from exile to be able to contest the Tanzanian general elections. He was chosen as CHADEMA's presidential candidate on 3 August 2020 and challenged Magufuli for president in the 2020 Tanzanian general election.[36][37]
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