Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan has been declared the winner of the country’s disputed presidential election with nearly 98 percent of the vote, after leading rivals were excluded from the race.

The final result announced by the electoral commission on Saturday showed Hassan had won 97.66 percent of Wednesday’s vote, dominating every constituency.

Hassan, who took power in 2021 after the sudden death of her predecessor, John Magufuli, appeared at an event in the administrative capital, Dodoma, to receive the winner’s certificate from electoral authorities.

In a speech afterwards, she highlighted Tanzanians voted overwhelmingly for a female leader and said now the election was over, “it’s time to unite our country and not destroy what we’ve built over more than six decades.” Hassan added: “We will take all actions and involve all security agencies to ensure the country is peaceful.”

But the spokesman for the main opposition party Chadema, which was barred from taking part in the election, slammed Hassan’s victory as a “mockery of the democratic process”,

“We are calling for the intervention by a credible body to oversee another fresh election,” John Kitoka told AFP news agency.

The election for president and parliament set off days of violent protests as demonstrators took to the streets of major cities to protest against the barring or prevention of Hassan’s main rivals from running and what they described as widespread repression.

Despite a heavy security presence, election day descended into chaos, with some demonstrators tearing down banners of Hassan and setting fire to government buildings, and police firing tear gas and gunshots, according to reports quoting witnesses. Internet connectivity watchdog NetBlocks said access to social media and mobile internet was restricted across several cities during and after the vote.

Chadema told AFP on Friday that “about 700” people had been killed, based on figures gathered from a network checking hospitals and health clinics. On Saturday, Kitoka said the party’s monitors had reported “no less than 800 people” were killed by security forces in protests this week.

Meanwhile, the UN human rights office said credible reports indicated at least 10 people were killed in three cities.

Foreign Minister Mahmoud Thabit Kombo told Al Jazeera on Friday that the authorities have acted appropriately and the election was conducted fairly.

“No excessive force has been used,” he told Al Jazeera, saying the government has “no official figures” on any protesters killed. “I’ve not seen these 700 anywhere.”

During her speech in Dodoma, Hassan said the actions of the protesters were “neither responsible nor patriotic”.

“When it comes to the security of Tanzania, there is no debate – we must use all available security avenues to ensure the country remains safe,” she said.

Hassan faced 16 candidates from smaller parties.

Chadema leader Tundu Lissu has been jailed for months, charged with treason after he called for electoral reforms that he said were a prerequisite for free and fair elections. He denies the charges. Another opposition figure, Luhaga Mpina of the ACT-Wazalendo group, was barred from running.

Rights groups allege Hassan oversaw a “wave of terror” in the country before the vote, including a string of high-profile abductions that escalated in the final days. The government has rejected criticisms of its human rights record.

United Nations chief Antonio Guterres is “deeply concerned” about the situation in Tanzania, “including reports of deaths and injuries during the demonstrations”, his spokesman said in a statement.

African Union chair Mahmoud Ali Youssouf congratulated Hassan in a statement on X, but also said he “deeply regrets the loss of human life during the post-electoral protests and extends his sincere condolences to the families of the victims.”

Alex Vines, the Africa director of the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR), says there has been “a campaign of harassment and intimidation” towards the opposition in Tanzania.

“It clearly is not a credible election,” he told Al Jazeera from London, saying the level of violence surrounding the polls, with hundreds of reported deaths, was unexpected in Tanzania.

“This is a very serious crackdown,” the analyst said, stressing that most of the protesters were young people – namely Generation Z. “There are many young Tanzanians, who think they have been left behind,” Vines added.