The streets of the largest city in Tanzania, Dar es Salaam, were largely deserted on Tuesday after police and soldiers were deployed to prevent anti-government protests on the country's Independence Day.

Presidential and parliamentary elections on October 29 triggered the worst political violence in Tanzania's post-independence history after President Samia Suluhu Hassan was reelected in a vote in which leading opposition candidates were barred from running.

Hassan's government was accused of rigging the polls and overseeing a campaign of murders and abductions that sparked nationwide riots.

United Nations human rights experts estimated last week that at least 700 people were extrajudicially killed in the violence, while Tanzanian opposition figures have spoken of over 1,000 victims of an alleged "shoot-to-kill" policy.

Since then, the authorities have continued to stifle dissent, arresting hundreds of people and charging them with treason, which carries the death penalty, and banning the usual Independence Day celebrations on Tuesday after they were earmarked for protest.

Prime Minister Mwigulu Nchemba urged citizens to remain at home and "use the day for rest."

Police checks in Dar es Salaam

On the streets of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania's economic capital, police were carrying out ID checks while city center shops were closed.

One reporter for the French AFP news agency said he was stopped and searched seven times in just over 30 minutes while walking through the city.

And a local bus conductor told the Reuters news agency that his company was not operating its usual "essential service" because "we cannot risk going out" for fear of violence.

Police spokesperson David Misime said the security situation across Tanzania was calm and that footage on social media purporting to show demonstrations on Tuesday were actually from earlier protests.

"We continue urging Tanzanians to disregard such images because they are intended to trick them into thinking there are protests happening," he said.

Tanzania achieved independence from the United Kingdom in 1961. Previously, from 1885-1919, the region had been conquered by the German Empire and incorporated into German East Africa.