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Claim: Several social media accounts, including Facebook, Instagram, and X, have posted a video claiming that demonstrators in Tanzania stormed and occupied an airport during recent protests in October 2025.
Verdict: False! The video is old and unrelated to the 2025 protests. It was first shared in March 2021 and shows mourners rushing to see the body of late President John Magufuli at the airport, not demonstrators taking over an airport.
Full Text
The video resurfaced amid widespread unrest in Tanzania following the October 29, 2025, general elections, which opposition groups have decried as fraudulent due to the disqualification of key challengers, including Tundu Lissu, CHADEMA party leader, jailed on treason charges, and Luhaga Mpina, an ACT-Wazalendo candidate.
Protests erupted in cities including Dar es Salaam, Dodoma, Mwanza, and Mbeya, involving clashes with police, road blockades, and reports of at least three deaths near the Kenyan border.
Meanwhile, the government imposed curfews in Dar es Salaam, ordered civil servants to work from home, and restricted internet access, while downplaying the violence as “isolated incidents.”
The post originated on X (formerly Twitter) from Kenyan influencer Billy (@MwangiHub) on October 30, 2025, at 9:50 AM EAT, garnering over 1.3 million views, 23,700 likes, 6,500 reposts, 650 quotes, 790 replies, and 1,400 bookmarks within 24 hours. It was amplified by similar shares on X, including those from @CitizenObs, @OnyebuchiO45673, and @BricsPlusWorld.
On Facebook, the video appeared in posts from Mbire TV (a Zimbabwean page) on October 30, garnering 247 likes, 78 comments, and 72 shares, and from Mr. H4 (October 30), with 19 likes and 56 shares. It can also be found on Facebook here, here, and here.
Additional circulation occurred on TikTok; for instance, @shujaa.humphrey‘s post garnered 77,000 views, 3,088 likes, and 301 comments. Similarly, Instagram Reels featured accounts like @nairametrics posting the same video, which received thousands of likes and hundreds of comments on the Meta platform.
Overall, the claim reached an estimated million impressions across platforms, fuelled by election chaos, hence DUBAWA had to step in.
Verification
To verify, DUBAWA examined the video’s metadata, context, and alignment with current events using reverse video search, archived footage comparison, and cross-referencing with credible news sources.
The clip matches footage from March 22, 2021, showing crowds gathering at JNIA in Dar es Salaam to receive the body of late President John Pombe Magufuli, who died on March 17, 2021 (officially of a heart attack, though COVID-19 was rumoured).
This was part of his state funeral procession, where thousands paid their respects after his body was flown from Zanzibar. Identical visuals, thus, crowd size, runway setting, clothing (e.g., pink and green outfits), and a white building in the background, appear in 2021 reports from BBC, Al Jazeera, and local outlets like The Citizen Tanzania.
A 2021 X post by @KY_alamani on March 22, 6:26 AM explicitly describes it as mourners “storming the airport” for Magufuli’s body, with the same 0:30 duration.
Current Events Context
While protests have indeed closed the road to JNIA, as reported by the BBC on October 30, 2025, and led to flight cancellations due to security concerns (as per a US Embassy advisory), no credible evidence suggests that protesters have occupied or stormed the airport itself.
Reuters reported on October 31, 2025, that violence occurred in Dar es Salaam, but there was no breach at the airport. Al Jazeera also noted military deployment and Gen Z-led demonstrations targeting ruling party offices, but protesters were dispersed.
Nonetheless, this is recycled footage, similar to how clips from 2021 were misused during Kenya’s 2022 protests. No 2025 videos of an airport occupation exist in verified sources that focus on ballot fraud and abductions in 2025.
Conclusion
The claim is false! The video is authentic, but it was recorded in 2021 and depicts mourners at President Magufuli’s funeral, not current election protests in Tanzania.
