Old and unrelated images misrepresent unrest during Tanzania’s general election
- Published on November 4, 2025 at 12:27
- 9 min read
- By Peris GACHAHI, AFP Kenya
Copyright © AFP 2017-2025. Any commercial use of this content requires a subscription. Click here to find out more.
Tanzanians went to the polls in October 2025 in an election where the main opposition parties were effectively sidelined by President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s government, amid a nationwide internet blackout. During the disruption, social media was flooded with images and clips shared by users in neighbouring countries, purportedly showing protests in Tanzania. Although unrest has since spread, the images in question are old and unrelated to the election.
Tanzania held general elections on October 29, 2025, under the tight control of a government accused of human rights abuses, including murder, arbitrary arrests and abductions (archived here).
Ahead of the vote, a crackdown on key opposition figures left the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) and Hassan with little to no competition (archived here).
Tundu Lissu, leader of the main opposition party Chadema, was arrested in April on treason charges after calling for electoral reforms, and his party was banned from contesting. Similarly, Luhaga Mpina of the Alliance for Change and Transparency (ACT Wazalendo), the country's third-largest party, was also disqualified from the race.
On election day, a nationwide internet blackout cut access to social media and messaging apps, stifling communication (archived here).
Protests later erupted in parts of the country’s largest city Dar es Salaam, prompting a curfew and heavy security deployment (archived here and here). The main opposition party has since claimed that around 800 people have been killed in the ongoing election protests, though the numbers are yet to be verified (archived here).
Amid these events, social media was flooded with old and unrelated videos falsely claiming to show electoral violence in Tanzania.
Kenyan anti-tax protesters
On election day, an image purportedly showing a protester in Tanzania kicking a tear gas canister was widely shared online. Beside him, another person is seen holding the Tanzanian flag, while others in the background appear shrouded in tear gas smoke.
“This is from our neighbours. What do we call a returning officer in Swahili?” reads one such post shared on X, partly in Swahili.
“Photo of the day,” another reads.
The image was also featured in an October 29 article by local news outlet The Star Kenya with the headline: “Mob stones police officer as Tanzania descends into poll chaos”.
“A protester on the streets of Dar es Salaam kick a tear gas canister on election day, October 29, 2025. /SCREENGRAB (sic),” the image caption reads.
We conducted reverse image searches and found the original photo in AFP’s archives. It was taken in 2024 in Kenya during the nationwide anti-tax protests that rocked the country (archived here).
The image was featured in several reports on the demonstrations in June and July 2024 (archived here, here and here).
The AFP caption reads: “A protester kicks a tear gas canister while demonstrating during a nationwide strike to protest against tax hikes and the Finance Bill 2024 in downtown Nairobi, on June 25, 2024”.
The image on X was altered to replace the Kenyan flag with the Tanzanian one.
It was also cropped slightly at the top to hide the visible sign for “Azuri restaurant” in the background. The restaurant is located on Nairobi’s Moi Avenue.
Another X post shared the next day claimed to show a video of protesters advancing along a street in Tanzania while chanting.
“Idi Amin Mama Samia is seeing bad things in Tanzania. It is boiling nicely!” it reads.
“Idi Amin Mama” is a moniker used to refer to Hassan, likening her to the late Ugandan dictator Idi Amin Dada.
However, reverse image searches on keyframes from the clip led to a TikTok post published on June 20, 2024, also in connection with Kenya's anti-tax demonstrations.
“Nakuru well represented. #rejectfinancebill2024,” reads the caption.
Using the "Rocky" sign visible in the clip and the keyword "Nakuru", we confirmed via Google Maps that the TikTok clip was indeed shot on Kenya’s Mburu Gichua road in Nakuru town.
AFP Fact Check has previously debunked claims linking the same clip to protests in Nigeria.
Nepal parliament breach
A clip published on X on October 29 claimed to show chaos in Tanzania.
“BREAKING!!! TANZANIA GOES UP IN FLAMES AS THE GEN-Zs ARE PROTESTING AGAINST THE BAD GOVERNANCE.. The president of that country, Samia Hassan thought she could silence the voice of the people by arresting her critics forgetting that even elastic has limit, here we are.. (sic),” the post reads.
The claim appears to have been lifted from a TikTok account with the username “festo4real_”, which published the clip on October 14, 2025.
AFP Fact Check conducted reverse image searches on keyframes from the clip and found that it was shot in Nepal.
An identical clip was published by Al Jazeera on YouTube on September 9, 2025, with the title, “Nepal parliament set ablaze amid anti-corruption protests”.
The Nepalese demonstrations, triggered by a government ban on social media platforms and the death of at least 19 protesters during clashes with security forces, culminated in the storming of the country’s parliament and resignation of prime minister Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli (archived here).
Durban protests
Another clip, shared on X a day after the polls closed, claimed to show peaceful protests on the streets of Tanzania.
“Protests IN Tanzania show good cooperation between protesters and Police (sic),” it reads.
We performed reverse image searches on keyframes from the clip and established that the footage was shot in Durban, South Africa, two days before the Tanzania polls.
A clip with similar features was published by local South African news outlet Izindaba Zethu, on October 27, 2025.
“Crowds of people have marched on the Homii building in the Durban city centre demanding that the building release CCTV footage showing what happened on the day the Dlamini twins were injured,” reads the post in isiZulu.
Using visible landmarks -- including the stores Ackermans, Pioneer Place, Debonairs Pizza and Steers -- we pinpointed the exact location the video was shot as Durban’s 328 West Street on Google Maps.
The protesters were demanding justice following a fatal accident at a building where seven-year-old twins Aphelele and Aphile Dlamini fell down an open lift shaft in the residential complex, leading to the death of one of the children (archived here).
The officers seen in the clip are also wearing uniforms consistent with those of the South African police.
Magufuli mourners
Another clip was shared on TikTok claiming to show a large crowd storming an airport in Tanzania.
“Tanzanians have stormed and occupied Julius Nyerere International Airport, protesting against Samia’s rule,” reads the text overlaid on the post published on October 30.
Reverse image searches on keyframes from the clip and found that while it was indeed shot in Tanzania, it predates current events.
A longer version of the clip was published on Instagram by local Tanzanian media outlet HopNews on March 21, 2021.
“How citizens entered Mwalimu Nyerere International Airport to bid farewell to the late President Dr. John Pombe Magufuli as his body was being transported to Dodoma,” reads the Swahili post. “Rest in peace, Farewell JPM”.
The crowd of people running and the blue and white Air Tanzania plane that carried Magufuli’s remains can be seen in both clips.
The BBC also featured images from the incident in their reports on Magufuli’s state funeral (archived here and here).
Magufuli, Tanzania’s fifth president, died in office at the age of 61, reportedly from heart complications (archived here).
We found no credible source of evidence indicating an airport breach by protesters in the aftermath of the recent Tanzanian polls.
Hassan was declared the winner of the recent polls on November 1, 2025, with a landslide 97.66 percent of the vote in a disputed election, amid violent protests (archived here).
Is there content that you would like AFP to fact-check? Get in touch.
Contact us
