Tanzania’s main opposition party faces exclusion from general elections set for October after its leader was charged with treason.

Tanzania’s main opposition party CHADEMA has been disqualified from elections due later this year, a senior election commission official said on Saturday, days after the party’s leader was charged with treason for allegedly seeking to disrupt the vote.

Tanzania's opposition leader Tundu Lissu has been charged with treason a day after he was arrested following a rally he held in the south of the country. The charge is connected to his nationwide campaign pushing for electoral reform under the slogan "No Reforms, No Election".