Africa's detained aspirants: Presidential hopefuls locked up during elections

The detention of key political opponents during an election cycle is a recurring phenomenon in several African nations.

This tactic, which sees presidential aspirants jailed, placed under house arrest, or legally entangled immediately before, during, or after a vote, is again in focus as Tanzania heads to the polls.

As Tanzanians prepare to vote in their general election on October 29, 2025, one of the country's most prominent opposition figures, Tundu Lissu, is in prison.

Here are some of the continent's most high-profile cases where presidential aspirants were locked up during the election period.

Tundu Lissu (Tanzania, 2025)

Tundu Lissu, the chairman of Tanzania's main opposition party, Chadema, is currently in detention as the country holds its general election.

Lissu was arrested on April 9, 2025, after addressing a public rally calling for constitutional and electoral reforms under the banner 'No Reforms, No Elections'.

He was subsequently charged with treason and publishing false information, charges that carry a potential death penalty.

Lissu, who was the main opposition candidate in the 2020 election, was expected to be a primary contender for the presidency again.

Following his arrest, his party, Chadema, was barred from participating in the October 2025 polls.

On October 24, 2025, just days before the election, Tanzania's High Court adjourned his treason trial to November 3, 2025.

The decision ensures that Lissu, who has been in remand prison for over six months, remains incarcerated throughout the entire election process.

Bassirou Diomaye Faye (Senegal, 2024)

In one of the most dramatic political turnarounds, Bassirou Diomaye Faye was elected President of Senegal on March 24, 2024, just days after being released from prison.

Faye was arrested in April 2023, nearly a year before the election.

He was charged with 'contempt of court, defamation, and acts likely to compromise public peace' after he published a social media post criticising the judiciary's handling of a case against his party's leader, Ousmane Sonko.

When Sonko was himself jailed and disqualified from running, he named the imprisoned Faye as his replacement candidate.

Faye's candidacy was validated by Senegal's Constitutional Council while he was still in prison.

Following intense public pressure and widespread protests against the election's postponement, an amnesty law was passed.

Faye was released from prison on March 14, 2024, just 10 days before the rescheduled election.

He won the presidency in the first round.

Robert Kyagulanyi / Bobi Wine (Uganda, 2021)

Robert Kyagulanyi, the leader of the National Unity Platform (NUP), was the main challenger in Uganda's January 14, 2021, general election.

While his campaign was marked by multiple arrests and violent confrontations with security forces, the most critical detention occurred immediately after the vote.

As vote counting began, military and police forces surrounded Kyagulanyi's home, placing him under house arrest.

He was held in his home for 11 days, unable to meet with his party officials or lawyers to prepare a legal challenge to the results being announced.

Authorities stated the detention was a 'preventive measure' to stop him from inciting violence.

Uganda's High Court later ruled that the house arrest was illegal.

Kizza Besigye (Uganda, 2016 & 2006)

Dr Kizza Besigye, the four-time presidential candidate for the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC), has been a principal example of this phenomenon.

His campaigns in 2006 and 2016 stand out.

• 2016 Election: Besigye was arrested multiple times in the week of the February 18, 2016, election, including on polling day itself.
  Immediately after the vote, he was placed under house arrest for over 40 days as the results were declared.
  He was later jailed in a state prison and charged with treason after holding a mock 'swearing-in' ceremony.

• 2006 Election: After returning from exile to run for president, Besigye was arrested in November 2005.
  He was charged with treason, concealment of treason, and rape.
  Besigye was famously nominated as the FDC's presidential candidate while he was in prison.
  He was granted bail by the High Court on January 2, 2006, allowing him only weeks to campaign before the February election.
  The rape charge was later dismissed.

Reckya Madougou (Benin, 2021)

Reckya Madougou was the chosen presidential candidate for Les Démocrates (The Democrats), Benin's largest opposition party, for the April 2021 election.

She was arrested on March 3, 2021, just weeks before the poll, after her candidacy had been formally filed.

Authorities accused her of 'financing terrorism' and plotting to disrupt the election by assassinating political figures.

Her candidacy was invalidated.

In December 2021, Madougou was sentenced to 20 years in prison by a special court.

She remains imprisoned, with human rights organisations and her supporters maintaining the charges were politically motivated to remove the incumbent's most significant challenger.

These cases highlight a recurring pattern across the continent where the electoral period is marked by the detention of key opposition presidential aspirants.