Former Tanzania vice president missing days after resigning

Questions have emerged over the whereabouts of Tanzania’s former Vice President Emmanuel Nchimbi after former Prime Minister Joseph Warioba said he has been unable to reach him for days.

Warioba raised the concern on Friday, August 28, during the Tanzania Democracy Forum organised by the Tanganyika Law Society.

Nchimbi resigned as Vice President on Tuesday, August 25, saying he would leave office on September 4. Warioba said he spoke to him shortly after learning of the resignation but has been unable to reach him since.

“I spoke with Nchimbi after learning about his resignation. He confirmed to me it was true. I asked him how the president responded; he said he had not heard anything yet,” Warioba recalled.

Warioba said that later on August 25, he saw an announcement confirming that President Samia Suluhu Hassan had accepted Nchimbi’s resignation. 

He then tried to call the former Vice President again. “Later, I saw the announcement that the President had accepted Nchimbi’s request to resign. I tried calling Nchimbi again, but the call was not answered,” he said.

Warioba said his attempts to contact Nchimbi continued on Wednesday, August 26, after the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi announced that it had expelled the former Vice President.

“I waited until evening [August 26, 2026], which is when I saw the statement from the Secretary-General that the party had expelled him. I called his phone, but it was not answered, and I sent a message, but it was not received,” Warioba asserted.

Nchimbi has not made any public appearances, attended events, or posted on social media since announcing his resignation on August 25. 

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His current whereabouts have not been officially disclosed, however, unverified reports circulating on social media claim that Nchimbi’s phones were confiscated and that he is being held incommunicado. There is, however, no independent or official confirmation that he has been detained.

Tanzanian media personality and Mwanzo TV founder Maria Sarungi claimed that Nchimbi was under house arrest and alleged that President Samia Suluhu Hassan was planning to charge him with treason. 

“Just resigned Vice President Emmanuel Nchimbi is under house arrest, his devices confiscated, and Samia Suluhu is allegedly planning to charge him with treason,” she reported. 

The Tanzania Police Force and the Office of President Samia Suluhu Hassan were yet to respond to questions about Nchimbi’s whereabouts by the time of publication.

Meanwhile, Tanzania’s Parliament on Friday unanimously approved Deogratius Ndejembi as the country’s new Vice President, replacing Nchimbi. All 324 lawmakers who took part in the vote backed Ndejembi, with no votes against his nomination and no spoilt ballots recorded.

President Samia nominated Ndejembi, the Minister for Energy and Member of Parliament for Chamwino, after Nchimbi resigned as Vice President on August 25.

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