The air in Dar es Salaam has grown heavier with fear, silence, and unanswered questions. Just days after issuing a powerful statement condemning alleged mass killings by Tanzanian security forces, CHADEMA Secretary General John Mnyika has reportedly gone missing under mysterious circumstances , sending waves of panic through opposition ranks and sparking outrage among citizens and human rights defenders.
Mnyika’s disappearance, described by party members as “deeply suspicious,” comes barely forty-eight hours after he signed and released a public statement accusing the government of mass killings and systematic cover-ups during protests that have rocked the nation.
“He was the voice we needed most right now. And now he’s gone,” said one CHADEMA official, her voice breaking as she spoke to journalists under anonymity.
In the statement dated Saturday, November 2, 2025, Mnyika denounced what he called “an oppressive regime under President Samia Suluhu Hassan.” The letter detailed horrifying scenes ,bodies scattered on the streets, hospitals overwhelmed by corpses, and police allegedly moving from hospital to hospital to collect the dead, supposedly to erase evidence of state brutality.
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“Following the large number of deaths and the many civilians with life-threatening injuries in different parts of the country…” the letter began, before condemning the government’s actions as an outright assault on the people’s right to life and liberty.
That statement now feels eerily like a final message, a desperate cry before silence swallowed its author.
Sources close to Mnyika say he was last seen leaving CHADEMA headquarters in Mikocheni late on Saturday evening. His phone has been off since, and his family has been unable to locate him. The police have issued no statement, and the government remains silent, a silence that many Tanzanians interpret as complicity.
Opposition members now fear that Mnyika may have been abducted for his outspoken criticism of the government’s handling of the protests. In a country where dissent increasingly invites danger, his disappearance has deepened a growing sense of dread among activists and journalists.
“When the man who speaks truth disappears, it’s not just him who is missing, its democracy itself,” said a CHADEMA youth leader in Mwanza.
Across Tanzania, tension continues to simmer. Videos circulating online, some quickly taken down, show chaotic scenes: demonstrators running from tear gas, bodies lying motionless on the streets, and hospitals filled with the wounded. Reports from the ground suggest that internet access remains heavily restricted, further isolating citizens and blocking communication between affected regions.
CHADEMA’s statement had pleaded with the international community, especially the United Nations and the International Criminal Court (ICC), to open an independent investigation into the alleged killings. Now, with Mnyika missing, that plea feels more urgent than ever.
“We appeal to the international community to take immediate action before more lives are lost,” the statement had said.
But with its author unaccounted for, that call risks fading into silence, another story buried beneath fear.
Families of missing protesters are also coming forward, saying they’ve received no word from loved ones since the demonstrations began. Some have been told to “stop asking questions.” Others have found bodies in morgues, bruised, lifeless, and tagged only with numbers.
Mnyika’s disappearance adds to this grim pattern, a pattern of intimidation, suppression, and fear that human rights organizations have warned about for years. Tanzania, once praised as a symbol of East African stability, is now facing its most serious human rights crisis in decades.
For many Tanzanians, John Mnyika was more than a political figure, he was a symbol of courage, a man who dared to speak truth in a time of growing silence. His disappearance is being felt not just in political circles, but in homes, churches, mosques, and markets where people whisper: “Where is John?’’
Online, despite censorship, the hashtag Where Is John Mnyika has begun trending among activists and diaspora communities, as Tanzanians abroad demand answers from their government and the international community.
As night falls, CHADEMA headquarters remain heavily guarded. Inside, party members hold prayer vigils, clutching copies of the same statement Mnyika signed, the last public trace of his voice. They vow to continue the struggle he stood for: freedom, justice, and truth.
“They can silence one man,” said one supporter. “But they can’t silence a nation.”
For now, the question echoes across Tanzania and beyond, a question that defines not just the fate of one man, but the fate of an entire nation’s conscience: Where is John Mnyika?
