Vi-skogen, which works with farmers in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda in East Africa, has about ten local Tanzanian employees in the country's largest city, Dar es Salaam.
Regional Manager Leif Newman describes the situation as "very tense".
We were prepared for certain challenges, but didn't think it would be as dramatic as it has been, he says.
The phone went silent.
From the regional office in Kenya's capital Nairobi, Newman has kept in touch with colleagues in Tanzania as the unrest has intensified.
"When it got violent, they shut down the internet. After that, I got information from our country manager via text message. Until early this morning, I know that our staff was okay, but since the election results came out, I haven't received a response to my text messages," he says.
All communication channels are down and no one can do anything.
Vi-skogen employees were urged to work from home on election day and not to go out on the streets. According to Newman, a person who works at the county manager's home was arrested by police when she went out on the town.
She was forced to pay her way out of the situation to avoid going to jail.
“Hard to predict”
In mid-November, the organization is organizing an annual symposium in northern Tanzania with thousands of participants, including politicians, researchers, farmers and visitors from Sweden, among others. An event that is now hanging by a thread.
It is very difficult to predict how this will develop as we are not used to these types of protests in Tanzania. It feels like this has made the cup overflow for people who have been holding on for a very long time.
