It feels awesome to be back home - Lissu

Tanzanian opposition politician Tundu Lissu told the BBC's Focus on Africa that it feels “awesome” to be back in the country after six years of exile in Belgium.

He fled the country in 2017 after what he alleged was an assassination attempt – and had been arrested several times in the year leading up to the attack.

While he briefly returned to challenge then-President John Magufuli in the 2020 elections, he left Tanzania for a second time, citing security threats.

His return to Tanzania comes after President Samia Suluhu Hassan lifted a ban on opposition rallies that was implemented by Mr Magufuli, who died in 2021.

Mr Lissu says that the political landscape has changed "dramatically" under her leadership.

"The political space now is certainly greater than we had previously and this gives us the opportunity then to take our message to the country – every corner of the country," he said.

"And the message and focus now is constitutional and political reform."

This article originally appeared in BBC News

Photo: AFP