Police in Tanzania say they have arrested two people for calling for protests against President John Magufuli.
BBC
Dodoma police chief Gilles Muroto presented the pair to the press saying, “these two people here were inciting others to protest on 26 April, saying on social media that there is no freedom [in Tanzania], that there is a dictatorship, which is totally false.”
News agency AFP has described the arrested individuals as a farmer and a driver.
A call for a nationwide protest on 26 April was first launched by an opposition activist against what some see as creeping authoritarian by President Magufuli.
The police chief added that anyone daring to protest will end up with “a broken leg and go home as cripples”.
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The planned protests have also riled Mr Magufuli.
He said in a speech earlier this month, “some people have failed to engage in real politics and would like to see street protests every day… let them demonstrate and they will see who I am.”
The 58-year-old leader, nicknamed “the bulldozer”, took office in 2015 as a corruption-fighting “man of the people” but has earned criticism for his authoritarian leadership style.
Critics say he has clamped down on his opponents and on freedom of expression.