NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Police have been deployed in mostly empty streets in Tanzania’s major cities on Tuesday ahead of planned protests that the government has preemptively declared illegal, urging citizens to stay home for Independence Day celebrations in the Eastern African nation.
Activists have called for protests over the ruling party’s victory in a disputed election Oct. 29, which led to days of protests in which hundreds of people were killed and more than 2,000 were detained. The demonstrations lasted three days as protesters burned vehicles, polling stations and gas stations while calling for the cancellation of results declaring the reelection of President Samia Suluhu Hassan with more than 97% of the vote.
Police trucks and officers on foot patrolled Tuesday morning in the commercial capital Dar es Salaam, the administrative capital Dodoma and the northeastern city of Arusha, while roadblocks were erected near key government installations including Hassan's heavily guarded offices in Dar es Salaam and Dodoma.
There was no public transport in Dar es Salaam on Tuesday after bus owners withdrew their vehicles, fearing a repeat of October's vandalism.
Prime Minister Mwigulu Nchemba on Monday asked all nonessential workers to stay home Tuesday. The annual Independence Day celebrations were cancelled in November and the government said funds that would have been used for the celebrations would be used to repair damaged infrastructure.
The country’s two main opposition parties were barred from running a candidate to face Hassan, the former vice president who was elevated following the death in office of her predecessor, John Pombe Magufuli. The main opposition leader, Tundu Lissu, demanded electoral reforms before the October polling but has been imprisoned since April facing treason charges.
Human Rights Watch on Monday decried a crackdown on Tanzanian activists, stating that at least 10 people have been arrested since mid-November following social media posts about the planned protests. Amnesty International also issued a statement Monday urging Tanzania to respect the right to peaceful assembly and warning against another internet shutdown like the one that lasted for over a week after the October election.
The Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights on Friday asked Tanzanian authorities to “refrain from using force to disperse non-violent assemblies and make every effort to de-escalate tensions.”
Dozens of Kenyan activists expressed solidarity with their Tanzania counterparts and urged the government to investigate killings and disappearances during the October demonstrations.
Tanzania’s government has established a commission to investigate the post-election violence but its findings are yet to be announced.
FILE - People protest a day after the general election following allegations of electoral irregularities in Arusha, Tanzania, Oct. 30, 2025. (AP Photo, File)
FILE -Tanzania's President Samia Suluhu Hassan delivers remarks during a campaign rally ahead of the general elections in Iringa, Tanzania, on Oct. 5, 2025. (AP Photo, File)
BINYAMINA-GIV’AT ADA, Israel--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec 9, 2025--
SonicEdge, a pioneer in micro-acoustic innovation, today announced a strategic partnership with Earfab, the innovator of custom-fit hearing technology, to co-develop a new generation of personalized audio solutions that unite comfort, precision, and hearing safety.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20251209472421/en/
By combining SonicEdge’s high-performance MEMS speaker-in-chip technology with Earfab’s custom-fit eartips – crafted using its proprietary earfabSCAN 3D smartphone scanning platform – the collaboration delivers a first-of-its-kind experience that redefines in-ear performance. The joint solution provides a perfect acoustic seal for enhanced sound fidelity, improved active noise cancellation, and long-term listening comfort – without compromising hearing health.
“At SonicEdge, we believe that better sound should also mean better well-being,” said Moti Margalit, CEO of SonicEdge. “By integrating Earfab’s precision-fit technology with our high-performance MEMS, we’re enabling our customers to create a new class of in-ear products that deliver audiophile-grade sound with everyday comfort and safety.”
The partnership addresses a growing demand for hearing-safe, high-performance in-ear audio tailored to each user. Earfab’s distributed manufacturing network enables users worldwide to scan their ears remotely and receive locally produced, perfectly matched eartips – minimizing waste, reducing cost, and ensuring accessibility at scale.
Jesper Aaris-Winther, CEO of Earfab, added, “Our collaboration with SonicEdge accelerates the transformation from traditional hearing protection to fully integrated hearing wellness. Together, we’re enabling global access to custom-fit audio products that balance performance, protection, and personalization.”
This collaboration marks a major advancement in scalable custom-fit manufacturing for the audio industry. SonicEdge’s compact MEMS pair seamlessly with Earfab’s digital scanning and distributed production model, offering manufacturers and OEMs a complete, end-to-end personalization solution.
To learn more about the SonicEdge x Earfab partnership and upcoming product innovations, visit https://sonicedge.io/
About SonicEdge
Founded by Moti Margalit, PhD and Ari Mizrachi in 2019, SonicEdge is transforming the audio industry with revolutionary miniature speakers based on proven silicon technology. As pioneers in advanced sound generation, Sonic Edge creates breakthrough audio solutions that pack more performance into incredibly small spaces. The approach builds on the same reliable silicon technology that powers billions of smart devices worldwide, from phones to cars, enabling us to produce high-quality audio products at scale. The technology gets better with each generation, doubling sound output from the same tiny space every two years. By combining multiple audio functions into single, compact packages, Sonic Edge continually improves both performance and design possibilities. SonicEdge keeps pushing what’s possible in audio technology, delivering solutions that combine amazing sound quality with groundbreaking new features in ever-smaller designs.
About Earfab
Earfab is a pioneering hearing tech company founded in 2020. We specialize in delivering custom in-ear solutions including hearing protection, communication earpieces, and audio devices through our proprietary earfabSCAN app and distributed production network. Our mission is to bridge audio fidelity, comfort, and hearing health, enabling immersive listening experiences without compromise.
Credit: SonicEdge
