News · 3 December 2025
Treason charges dropped. Mika Chavala walks free
The DPP withdrew the case at Kisutu Resident Magistrate's Court after a presidential directive, ending five weeks in custody that began after the October election protests.
On 3 December 2025, Tanzania's Director of Public Prosecutions dropped the treason case against Mika Lucas Chavala at the Kisutu Resident Magistrate's Court in Dar es Salaam. He walked free the same day.
The withdrawal followed a directive by President Samia Suluhu Hassan on 18 November, instructing the DPP to review the cases of youths arrested during the post-election unrest. Mika was released alongside the entrepreneur and influencer Niffer, and hundreds of others were freed in the same wave.
Crowds met the released detainees outside the court, in scenes covered across Tanzanian and regional media. The Citizen led with his name; The Chanzo called it a mass release.
Since then he has spoken openly about what those five weeks taught him about leadership, fear and the price of speaking freely. Those lessons became the final chapter of his book, 'A Free Mind Builds A Free Future'.
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