Seoul Gazette - Tanzania president wins 98% of votes after violence-marred polls

The electoral commission said Hassan won 97.66 percent of the vote, dominating every constituency.

It added that turnout was at 87 percent, despite reports from AFP journalists and other observers that polling stations were largely empty early Wednesday before election day descended into protests.

According to the main opposition party, Chadema, hundreds of people have been killed by security forces since Wednesday.

A quick swearing-in ceremony would take place on Saturday, state TV said.

Tourists have been stranded by cancelled flights, and the main port at Dar es Salaam -- a major economic lifeline for the country -- was shuttered, according to data from tracker Vessel Finder and Dutch shipping firm C. Steinweg.

There are reports that shops were running low on food, petrol stations closed and public transport shut down on Saturday.

"I have been staying in the mosque since Wednesday when the violence erupted," Mohamed Rajab, a 52-year-old in Dar es Salaam, told AFP.

"There is no transport. I’m not sure when I'm going back home."

Another resident said prices for meat and fish were two or three times higher than normal, while vegetable seller Sabri Jongo, 45, said he had to spend 20 times his normal travel budget to fetch items from the wholesaler.

"There was no supply at all," he said.

- 'Wave of terror' -

Hassan was elevated from vice-president on the sudden death of her predecessor, John Magufuli, in 2021.

She has faced opposition from parts of the army and Magufuli's allies, and sought to cement her position with an emphatic win, analysts say.

Rights groups say she oversaw a "wave of terror" in the east African nation ahead of the vote, including a string of high-profile abductions that escalated in the final days.

Chadema was barred from taking part in the election and its leader put on trial for treason.

Despite a heavy security presence, election day descended into chaos as crowds took to the streets across the country, tearing down her posters and attacking police and polling stations, leading to an internet shutdown and curfew.

A Chadema spokesman told AFP on Friday that "around 700" people had been killed, based on figures gathered from a network checking hospitals and health clinics.

A security source and diplomat in Dar es Salaam both told AFP that deaths were "in the hundreds".

Hassan has not made any public statement since the unrest began.

Her government denies using "excessive force" but has blocked the internet and imposed a tight lockdown and curfew nationwide, making it hard to access information.

News websites were not updated for days and journalists not allowed to operate freely in the country.

UN chief Antonio Guterres is "deeply concerned" about the situation in Tanzania, "including reports of deaths and injuries during the demonstrations", his spokesman said in a statement.

Much public anger has been directed at Hassan's son, Abdul Halim Hafidh Ameir, accused of overseeing the crackdown.

There have been unconfirmed reports of the army siding with protesters in some places, but army chief Jacob Mkunda came out strongly on Hassan's side on Thursday, calling the protesters "criminals".

Foreign Minister Mahmoud Thabit Kombo said Friday that his government had "no figures" on any dead.

"Currently, no excessive force has been used," he said in an interview with Al Jazeera. "There's no number until now of any protesters killed."

V.Pyo--SG