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Kipenka probe team compiling report
2006-02-14 07:46:40
By Pascal Shao
The commission appointed by President Jakaya Kikwete to investigate the controversial killing of four people by police on January 14 this year has now started compiling its report.
The commission, under Judge Kipenka Mussa is now holed up at White Sands Hotel in Dar es Salaam after spending about two weeks in Mahenge, Ulanga district, getting views from residents of the township.
One of the officials of the commission who preferred anonymity told The Guardian that their work was not complete and they were therefore not in a position to speak to journalists.
’’We are not in a position to speak to journalists until we have handed over the report to the President. He is the one who gave us the assignment and it is logical that we report to him,’’ he explained.
The commission was given 21 days, from January 24, this year, to complete its investigation to establish the truth behind the killings as speculation behind the killings were rife, with some arguing that the four shot dead were not bandits.
The inquest team was therefore expected to officially complete its time-bound task yesterday, February 13, 2005.
Many said that the four were good citizens dealing with precious stones in Ulanga district, refuting the allegations by the police that they were killed during a shoot out by the police.
The police had claimed that the deceased were involved in the armed robbery at the Jeweller’s shop in Kariakoo in Dar es Salaam, the claim that was denied by the shop owner when he was asked to identify the bodies.
The four people who were killed by the police are Sabinus Chigumbi , Ephraim Chigumbi, and Mathias Lugombe, all the residents of Mahenge, Morogoro. The fourth person was their taxi driver, Juma Ndugu a resident of Dar es Salaam.
The commission visited different areas that were involved in one way or another with the incident in Dar es Salaam, however these areas were not made public.
At least 69 people were registered and gave out their statements before the commission went to Mahenge, Morogoro on Friday February 3.
The commission is made up of the retired Permanent Secretary in the once Ministry of Education and Culture, Mwantumu Malale, retired Director of Criminal Investigation (DCI), Arthur Mwaitenda, Ibrahim Juma, from University of Dar es Salaam Faculty of Law and Eliezer Feleshi as the secretary of the commission.
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