Tundu Lissu ended a brief hunger strike on Tuesday, October 27, after being allowed to meet privately with his younger brother, his lead lawyer told the Associated Press. The account updates the Tanzanian opposition leader’s earlier announcement that he would refuse food over restrictions on confidential legal consultations. It does not establish that the wider dispute about lawyer access has been resolved.
Lawyer Rugemeleza Nshala told AP that Lissu delayed the planned Monday protest after authorities promised private consultations. According to Nshala, those arrangements did not materialise, Lissu began refusing food on Tuesday morning and stopped after lunchtime following the family meeting. Nshala had expressed concern because his client relies on medication.
The competing accounts
The accounts differ. Reuters reported that Chadema spokesperson Brenda Rupia placed the start on Monday. It also quoted Tanzania Prisons Service spokesperson Elizabeth Mbezi saying Lissu was safe and was not on hunger strike. Mbezi said lawyers were being allowed to visit after their status as his advocates had been established. These statements should be read alongside the lawyer’s account, rather than combined into a single uncontested timeline.
The legal dispute follows an October 16 High Court judgment. The Citizen reported that the court found prison officers had breached the Prisons Regulations by standing close enough to hear confidential lawyer-client discussions. Officers could continue to observe meetings for security, but were not entitled to listen to the substance of those consultations.
The court’s confidentiality ruling
The Chanzo’s account explains the wider implementation duty: the Commissioner General of Prisons was directed to circulate written guidance within 60 days of service of the order. That direction matters beyond Lissu’s detention. A confidential meeting allows a defendant to discuss evidence and defence strategy; maintaining visual supervision need not require hearing the conversation. The judgment and allegations about later compliance remain separate questions.
Lissu has pleaded not guilty to the treason charge, which his lawyer describes as politically motivated. Reuters reports that judgment is scheduled for November 6. The hunger-strike reports do not change the charge or supply a verdict. Readers following the case should look for the court’s actual decision and any subsequent ruling on compliance with the consultation order.
The case continues
For now, the important development is the lawyer’s report that the brief protest ended, accompanied by a prison-service denial reported separately by Reuters. Neither report provides an independent medical assessment or a complete record of prison visits. Future reporting will need to establish whether confidential legal access is sustained as the scheduled judgment approaches.
Update, October 29: This article originally reported the planned protest on October 24. It now incorporates AP’s October 27 account of its ending and Reuters’ October 27 report, republished October 28, including the prison-service denial. The original publication date and archival photograph are retained.
