Tanzania’s opposition politician and president Magufuli’s political rival, Tundu Lissu has been arrested -local media reported on Monday.
Lissu’s arrest comes hours after three other politicians from the opposition CHADEMA party including the chairman Freeman Mbowe were apprehended.
According to reports, opposition leader’s arrests were linked to the planned protests that he had organized in objection of recently released election results.
However, according to information posted on CHADEMA social media pages, Lissu was later released after a brief interrogation. Lissu, who was Magufuli’s main challenger in the Wednesday election, protested the outcome of the vote claiming massive electoral fraud. He also claims his agents were blocked from accessing polling stations.
On Friday, the National Electoral Commission NEC declared Magufuli the winner of the election with 84 percent of the vote.
According to NEC, Magufuli polled 12.5 million votes against CHADEMA’s 1.9 million votes (13%).