TANZANIA · COURTS AND POLITICS
Tanzania’s judiciary says the only official copy of the Lissu judgment is the one signed by all three judges and stamped with the court seal. Three differing versions have surfaced since Monday.
Tanzania’s High Court has named the official copy of the judgment that sent opposition leader Tundu Lissu to prison for four years, after three different versions of the ruling circulated online. High Court Registrar Chiganga Tengwa, the official who issues the court’s judgments, said on Wednesday, 11 November 2026 that the genuine text is the one carrying the signatures of all three judges and the court seal.
The question matters because the judgment is the document Lissu’s lawyers, foreign governments and rights groups will read, quote and argue over. Lissu chairs Chadema (Chama cha Demokrasia na Maendeleo, or Party for Democracy and Progress), Tanzania’s main opposition party, and his case has been followed closely abroad.
Key Facts
- Who High Court Registrar Chiganga Tengwa, the official who issues the court’s judgments.
- What The official judgment is the copy signed by all three judges and bearing the court seal.
- Versions Three copies of 118, 119 and 143 pages surfaced between 9 and 10 November.
- The case On Friday, 6 November, Lissu was cleared of treason (a plot against the state) but jailed four years.
- Open point Whether the wording differs between the copies has not been published.
What the Registrar Said
Registrar Tengwa told a Tanzanian newspaper on Wednesday that a judgment is official only when it carries both the judges’ signatures and the court seal. “If it is sealed without a signature, it is not a judgment, and if it is signed without a seal, it is not a judgment,” he said, in remarks translated from Swahili.
He said he holds all three versions and that the sealed copy with three signatures is the one the court recognises. Anyone who needs the official judgment, he added, can request it from the Registrar.
How the Three Versions Differ
According to a Tanzanian newspaper that obtained the copies, the first version has 118 pages and lists only Justice Dunstan Ndunguru as judge and author. It carries his signature but no seal, and it was later uploaded to the Tanzania Legal Information Institute (TanzLII), a free online library of Tanzanian court decisions.
The second version has 143 pages, names all three judges and Justice James Karayemaha as author, and carries three signatures plus the seal. The third, obtained on Tuesday, 10 November, has 119 pages, names the same three judges and author, and has the signatures but no seal.
The same account says the first version was taken down from TanzLII later that night, and its web link was then altered and deleted. We could not confirm that independently, so we report it as that newspaper’s account.
What Counts as a Judgment
Tengwa said different page counts alone do not prove that two different judgments exist. To decide that, he said, a reader must compare the wording of each copy from the first paragraph to the last.
He described TanzLII as one channel through which the judiciary speaks to the public, but said a document posted there without the seal is only a draft. Copies on the site, he said, can contain errors.
The Case Behind the Copies
The three-judge panel, led by Justice Ndunguru with Justices Karayemaha and Ferdinand Kiwonde, delivered the judgment on Friday, 6 November 2026 in Dar es Salaam. It found that prosecutors had not proved that Lissu intended to intimidate the government, as the treason charge requires.
The court acquitted Lissu of treason, here the charge that he meant to intimidate the government by stopping the election, but convicted him of incitement, a lesser alternative offence of urging others to commit a crime, and sentenced him to four years. Prosecutors had accused him of making statements at a Chadema meeting in Dar es Salaam on 3 April 2025 meant to stop the October 2025 general election.
Why It Matters Beyond the Courtroom
A ruling can only be appealed, criticised or defended against a fixed text. Until the sealed copy is the one everyone cites, a quotation from the wrong version could be challenged as inaccurate, which is our assessment rather than a ruling of the court.
For readers in the United States, the practical point is simple: diplomats, investors and rights groups assessing Tanzania should work from the sealed judgment. The Registrar says he will issue it on request.
What Is Not Known
The judiciary has not said whether the wording of the three copies differs, or how the unsealed versions reached lawyers’ messaging groups. It also has not said why the first version disappeared from TanzLII.
No public statement from Lissu’s lawyers on which version they will rely on for an appeal had been reported by Thursday, 12 November. We will update this page if the court or the lawyers say more.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which Lissu judgment is the official one?
The Registrar says the official judgment is the copy signed by all three judges and bearing the court seal. A copy without the seal is treated as a draft.
How many versions of the Lissu judgment circulated?
Three, of 118, 119 and 143 pages, surfaced between Monday, 9 and Tuesday, 10 November 2026. Only the 143-page version carries both the three signatures and the seal, according to the newspaper that obtained them.
What was Tundu Lissu convicted of?
The High Court cleared Lissu of treason on Friday, 6 November 2026 and convicted him of incitement, a lesser alternative offence. He was sentenced to four years in prison.
How can I get the official judgment?
The Registrar says anyone who needs it can request it from him. The copy issued will carry the names and signatures of all three judges and the court seal.
Sources: High Court of Tanzania, judgment and sentence in the case of Tundu Lissu, 6 November 2026; statement by High Court Registrar Chiganga Tengwa, 11 November 2026; Tanzania Legal Information Institute (TanzLII); Judiciary of Tanzania. Our earlier coverage: the verdict, the trial explained and the verdict preview. Accessed Thursday, 12 November 2026.
More: Tanzania news in English, every day from The Rio Times.
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