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Opposition stage big anti-Mahita demo
2006-02-20 07:15:42
By Pacifique Nkeshimana
Thousands supporters of the CUF, Chadema and TLP yesterday staged a huge demonstration in Dar es Salaam urging President Jakaya Kikwete to sack the Inspector General of Police Omar Mahita before his retiring time following his recent accusation that CUF has a hand in the prevailing armed robberies in the country.
The demonstration was led by CUF’s Chairman, Professor Ibrahim Lipumba, Secretary General Seif Shariff Hamad, Publicity Secretary Tambwe Hiza, Deputy Secretary General Juma Duni Haji, leader of the opposition in the Parliament, Hamad Rashid Mohamed and other national leaders and was also joined by the Chairman of the Tanzania Labour Party, Augustine Mrema.
The peaceful march started at around 11hours from the CUF’s Mainland headquarters in Buguruni and passed along Uhuru Street, Kawawa and Morogoro Roads and ended at Jangwani grounds.
Scores of policemen were deployed to keep law and order, many of who could be seen mingling with the marchers as if they were also participants.
Hundreds of marchers carried their respective political parties’ flags and placards and were singing loudly that Mahita should be sacked.
The placards also had messages urging President Kikwete to sack Mahita before his retiring time, accusing him to be a major armed robber.
The placards read: ’’…MAHITA YOU SAID WE ARE ROBBERS…YOU ARE OUR COMMANDER… MAHITA YOU HAVE DISTURBED US NOW YOU ARE GOING TO BE TAUGHT A LESSON…’’
At Jangwani grounds, CUF’s publicity Secretary, Hiza Tambwe said that the president should sack the IGP because he has failed to curb the robberies and has lied by accusing more than 1.3 million CUF members as bandits.
Said he: ’’It was for so long alleged that some members of the police, including top officers are robbers…now you have heard that the President’s probe team came with findings that the four people who were gunned down by the police on January 14 at Sinza were innocent businessmen….
They had 75 million shillings but the members of the police who shot them dead presented only 5 million shillings. We ask: Who were the robbers the members of the Police or the unfortunate traders?’’
Mustapha Wandu, one of CUF’s senior leaders said he was once a Commissioner of Police for many years and that he taught Mahita when he was recruited to join the Police Force.
He said that the recent IGP’s allegations on CUF that they were organizing robberies in the country was unethical as it was outrageous.
’’The President has to respond to our call by sacking IGP Mahita for having violated the code of ethics.
what Mahita did is very shameful to me as his teacher, the entire Police Force, the President and the nation in general,’’ Wandu said, amid applause from the mammoth crowd, adding that among the respected policemen who occupied the IGP post since the country became independent, no one was ’bogus’ like Mahita.
’’Mahita is very irresponsible… he has lots of property which he obtained through violating the code of conducts,’’ he said, urging the media to inform the public on Mahita’s ’’ill-gotten’’ property.
On his part, Augustine Lyatonga Mrema, the TLP Chairman, said when he was the Minister for Home Affairs, Mahita was the Kilimajaro Regional Police Commander and was the Number One wrong-doer who deserved disciplinary sanction.
Mrema said: ’’I know Mahita very well… when I was the Minister for Home Affairs he was the Regional Police Commander in Kilimanjaro, my native region… he was the most wrongdoer ever seen.
I was about to sack him but unfortunately I could not continue with the post as Minister for Home Affairs.’’
The TLP head added that when Mahita became the IGP he did nothing except destroying opposition parties, particularly his (Mrema’s party).
He added: ’’Mahita said that CUF will never win the presidency…this was a very shocking speech… can you imagine, Mahita has only one vote, and another one for his wife…can these two votes hinder CUF to win the elections?
But I remember the tear gas bombs that he used to disperse my supporters in Kilimanjaro region… he is really working for the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi and his mission was to use the police to intimidate voters.’’
Mrema also said that he could not believe why CUF failed to get even a single Member of Parliament in the Mainland while it has got many voters compared to TLP and Chadema, the opposition parties that managed to get one and five MPs respectively.
He added: ’’With my 80,000 votes I got an MP in Biharamulo constituency… Chadema, with less than a half of CUF votes managed to get five elected MPs… how come the main opposition party with more than 1.3 million voters fail to get even one Member of Parliament in the Mainland?’’ Mrema said, adding that Mahita had used his power to make sure that CUF gets defeated at all cost.
CUF’s Secretary General, Seif Sharif Hamad, said that Mahita’s allegations that CUF was conducting robberies in the country was a very serious matter of concern and that is why his party organized the demonstrations to request the President to sack him immediately.
He added: ’’Mahita’s allegations on our party came a few days after the request by the Minister for Public Safety and Security, Bakari Mwapachu, that suspected robbers should be shot dead.
I believe that he was normal when he named Prof Lipumba, and Hamad Rashid Mohamed, the leader of the official opposition in the House that they were the robbers… he really wanted them to be shot dead,’’ he said, adding that President Kikwete has to prove that Mahita did not say those allegations on behalf of the government by dismissing him immediately.
Meanwhile, Juma Duni Haji, the CUF deputy Chairman, said that there was a very big gulf between the police under Mahita and the people.
’’In order to win the war against banditry, the police must collaborate with the people.
But the police under Mahita as not co-operating with the people, they were collaborating among themselves,’’ he said, adding that he should be dismissed before his time expires.
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