As Tanzanians prepare to vote on October 29, a wave of disappearances has gripped the nation. Opposition leaders, activists and even former insiders from the ruling party have vanished in what human-rights groups describe as a state-led campaign to silence dissent. One of the most shocking cases is that of Humphrey Polepole, a former ambassador and longtime member of the Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM), who disappeared from his home in Dar es Salaam earlier this month—leaving behind only a pool of blood, the Financial Times reported.

Polepole’s vanishing is emblematic of what critics call a chilling new phase in Tanzania’s politics under President Samia Suluhu Hassan, who is seeking a second term. “They are using elections to legitimise authoritarian rule,” said a former senior CCM official who

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