Tanzania police lift ban on internal political party meetings

Tanzanian police have lifted ban on all political party internal meetings with effect from Thursday, after being satisfied with the country's state of security and stability in the east African nation.

"We're also working on lifting a similar ban on political public rallies, but this will be done after a thorough evaluation is done of the state of security and stability in the country," Nsato Mssanya, head of operations and training in Tanzania Police Force, said in a statement on Thursday

He said that indicators show that the state of national security has improved for political parties to be allowed to continue with their internal meetings.

Last month, Tanzania Police Force banned all political parties' internal meetings on grounds that information gathered from intelligence sources showed such meetings were becoming a threat to the national peace.

The move however received criticism from human rights activist groups, who cited it as a big blow to the country's democratic space. Endit