Today Robert Amsterdam published an open letter to President John Magufuli and Chief Justice Ibrahim Hamis Juma regarding an alleged plot by the government to collude with the National Electoral Commission to block the candidacy of Mr. Tundu Lissu. The letter warns of a court appearance scheduled for Wednesday 26 August in which the authorities […]
Lawyer Robert Amsterdam of Amsterdam & Partners LLP has delivered and published the following open letter to the National Electoral Commission of the United Republic of Tanzania on behalf of his client, the opposition leader Tundu Lissu. The letter may be downloaded in full here. Amsterdam writes: “Since his return to Tanzania, Mr. Lissu has […]
Podcast – special edition. Ever since he returned to Tanzania three weeks, opposition presidential candidate Tundu Lissu has been confronted by one obstacle or threat after another. The day he landed at Dar es Salaam international airport, the police attempted to block any media or groups from gathering to welcome him. It didn’t work. Unknown […]
Today Robert Amsterdam of Amsterdam & Partners LLP has published an open letter addressed to the Tanzanian Police Force regarding the situation of his client, the opposition presidential candidate Tundu Lissu. In the letter, Amsterdam writes: “we strongly demand that as a presidential candidate, Mr. Lissu is afforded the same security and protective measures ensured […]
As a career foreign service officer, Elizabeth Shackelford was seen as a rising star in the US State Department, a recipient of the Barbara Watson Award for Consular Excellence. But in 2017 she resigned from public service, publishing a stinging indictment of a letter which brought to light the extraordinary mismanagement and strategic drift under […]
The following press release was distributed to media today: Ahead of the return of opposition leader Tundu Lissu to Tanzania scheduled for tomorrow, the Tanzanian Police have circulated a statement to media warning citizens not to attend the homecoming at the Dar es Salaam airport. Based on the pretext of the mourning period for the […]
In the letter, Mr. Amsterdam writes that he is “profoundly and urgently concerned for the safety and security” of Mr. Lissu, and that his firm intends to “hold accountable all public servants in the current administration of the Government of Tanzania with regard to the human rights, civil rights, and physical safety of the opposition leader.”
For many years, Africa’s natural resource wealth, young population, and vibrant societies have raised many hopes for a rapid emergence on the world’s stage – but the development of these opportunities has often slow and uneven. So what is holding the region back? John Campbell, a former US Ambassador to Nigeria, Senior Fellow at the […]
This week the former opposition lawmaker Tundu Lissu, who survived a violent assassination attempt just three years ago, has announced his bid to campaign for the presidency of the Republic of Tanzania. Mr. Lissu, who is a client of Amsterdam & Partners LLP, will contest against the incumbent Chama cha Mapinduzi (CCM) President John Magufuli, […]
There are a lot of pundits out there declaring democracy promotion to be dead on arrival in the Trump era. But there’s still an important community of activists fighting for the cause against the odds and even winning. “Democracy matters and democratic leadership matters, even in the face of a fast-moving crisis like the coronavirus,” […]