DAR ES SALAAM, July 6 -- SABA SABA is meant to be a day of national memory, commerce and shared public life. The seventh day of the seventh month marks the 1954 founding of TANU, a movement that helped unite Tanganyika in the struggle for independence.

In modern Tanzania, it is also inseparable from the Dar es Salaam International Trade Fair, where families visit, businesses exhibit, young people explore opportunities and traders meet customers. This year marks 72 years since TANUs founding, but the atmosphere around 7 July 2026 is not only one of celebration.

It has been overshadowed by planned demonstrations, security deployments, online threats, political arguments and a growing uncertainty over whether ordinary citizens should go ab...