Arrived on 23rd; we met with the relatives of the deceased Mr. Magige Gati who is the father of the deceased Emmanuel Magige (27 yrs), Mr. Gasaya Matiko Maisaya who is the uncle of the deceased Chacha Ngoka Chacha (19 yrs), Mr. Mkono Boke a brother of the deceased Chawali Boke (28yrs), Mr. Chacha Marwa Mwita a brother of the deceased Mwikwabe Marwa Mwita (32 yrs) and a step brother of the deceased Chacha Mwita (25 yrs) Mr. Marwa Mwita.
We visited the district hospital (mortuary) to be specific but we were outside the mortuary, we visited where the deceased relatives were camping and met with the CHADEMA leaders headed by Hon. Tundu Lissu (MP) Singida North, talked to the councillors and other citizens asking about their views on the killings.
While at the camp we found Tundu Lissu talking on the phone with the police chief police of Tarime SSP Eliakim .A. Massenga about the restriction letter (herein attached as index A) whereby the MP was insisting on carrying out the marching and farewell ceremony as they previously agreed upon between the police and CHADEMA and the deceased’s relatives, but as the letter stated the SSP stood his ground that no such thing will happen and cautioned him that he should not engage himself in such thing. After that they (MP and deceased’s relatives) agreed that police are in a conspiracy to steal bodies in the mortuary and take them in their villages and either burry them or just reach them to their villages and so they made a decision that they will go to the mortuary and take guard to make sure that nothing happens to the bodies.
After that we passed in the streets to see what the situation out there was, and we met with police cars full of fully equipped FFU’s with guns and, teargas and water spray cars, and they were announcing that people should not engage themselves in the act of gathering in any way and they should stay at home as there will be no gathering of any kind, they made rounds in town for almost two hours from 1600-1800.
Then we went to the hospital to see if the relatives will be there to guard as they agreed plus talking to people there, we arrived there around 1843hrs in the evening and found a small group of people a bit distant from the mortuary talking to one another and a police car with 8 FFUs on board with guns guarding the mortuary, we started asking people on how they take the situation and all the people we talked to were so emotional and sad on what had happened, most of them showed strong feelings of hatred towards the police, District Commissioner and the government as a whole, as they quoted the DC’s words that “sheria inayotumika Tanzania haitumiki Tarime” this statement is what makes these people furious as they think as they are neglected and as if they are not Tanzanians, some said if the Tanzanian law does not apply in Tarime then Tarime should declare itself a free state and have its own constitution.
Other people shared their stories saying these five deaths are the only ones which hit the public but there are many deaths which occurs every year of not less than 20 people per year in the North Mara gold mine not to mention the injured and cripples due to this fiasco. One Mr. Wandiba, disclosed that there are more than 70 people who dies every year and the injured are as many than words can explain, he further stated he witnessed his friend Chacha Mgaya shot on the leg in April 2010 at Nyamongo, and was sent to Bugando hospital where he went to visit him and only to find out his leg was amputated, he said he could feed more information about the situations and he provided his phone number for further clarifications and enquiries 0785-747412.
The other person I talked to said that those people were not robbers as they are claimed to be but rather it was an ongoing deal which went south between the mining guards and the small miners, the deal is when there is potential sand coming in of which the guards knows for sure that the sand contains gold they alert the small miners, call them in, point them where there is that hip of sand and give them 5 minutes to get in and out, in return these guards are paid by these miners in cash between 500,000 – 1Million Tshs for each miner before hand, and it is said that this had been going on and on for so long until in the night of this fateful day when the big boss paid a surprise visit in the mine while these miners were already in, to clear their names the guards started shooting at these miners and claim that they were intruders, then they started running out of the mine hence explains the wounds at the back showing that they were running and not attacking as they were claimed to have been. This story has been collaborated by two other persons saying the same thing, the court clerk at the District court and a fellow passenger I was sitting with from Musoma to Mwanza, each one of these people said the same story that this was a racket between the guards and the small miners.
Around 1900hrs still there was a small group of people gathering around hospital and i asked them what they were doing there at that hour and they said they were there to make sure the bodies are not stolen by the police as they suspect police are planning on doing just that, I asked them why they are only few numbers of them and they said others are coming, they come separately so that to avoid suspicious from the police and avoid to be seen as they were marching, at the same time the FFU car left and 5 armed – uniformed police officers and many other un uniformed police replaced them in guarding the mortuary.
Around 1920hrs Tundu Lissu and other 10 people arrive at the hospital ground and all people gathered around him which made me go there too to see what was going on, I found him talking to on the phone I would not know who he was talking to on the other side but from time to time he would address him as “MWENYEKITI” and at one time he was saying “kama hawatakubaliana na kile tunachokitaka basi sisi tutaendelea kuwepo hapa hadi hiyo asubuhi na hatutachukua hiyo miili kwenda kuzika...” after he hung up I asked him the same question, that what if the police won’t give in to their demand the following morning, what will they do and he said, “kuna mambo manne yatakayotokea, moja we will be beaten up, pili they will arrest us, tatu they will kill us au they will send us to jail, lakini vyovyote itakavyokua tutahakikisha haki inatendeka”3hours after we the same speculation they had about the police stealing the bodies became true, as around 10pm armed police in a car rushed in and ambushed the mortuary, took the bodies put them in the coffins they came with and stormed out, beating those people around in the process and arrested 8 people including Hon. Tundu Lissu my partner Mr. Stanslaus Nyembea charging them with three offence i.e.: criminal trespass, unlawful assembly and obstructing medical practitioner and police officers in the execution of their duties; (see the attached affidavit)
The bodies which were taken were dumped either in the deceased village or near deceased village, either way those coffins were dumped on the roadside and the relatives wouldn’t dare touch the coffin as they didn’t know what to do with the coffins as they didn’t know whether the coffin is of their relative or somebody else’s (see picture bellow)
Coffins were just dumped alongside the road near deceased’s villages
the next day I started to look for alternative way to find out which lockup was my partner in and try to see what are the charges and se way through but eventually after a two days in the cell he and seven others were released on bail and are required to appear on 27 June 2010;
LESSON LEARNT
Tarime is not a bad place as it is said and its people are not as bad, but the problem is with the leadership, police in particular, the police are the ones who causes commotions in tarime and blame it to the people, Human rights to them is a LATIN word which does not appear in their vocabulary, human rights are highly abused in tarime and people are silenced whenever they try to raise their voices to claim their rights and hence they tend to take law in their own hands as they refer to the day to day mistreatment they get from the police and the statement from the DC that the Tanzanian law does not apply in Tarime:-
- That legal aid is so much needed out there as people are mistreated and humiliated, faces police brutality, cannot access justice simply because they know almost nothing about law and for those who does do not know how and where to start.
- Human rights are intensively abused as people when in police hands are treated like animals, remanded are denied bail, humiliated, ill-treated, tortured, beaten up and live in fear without knowing what will be their fate. The police are the law out there if you collaborate with them you can go free and that is after bribing them.
- People are being framed in cases they haven’t done, for example there is this guy who was arrested in 2009 and now he is charged with murder for killing someone who died 2011, now the question is how can someone commit a murder in future? That is how can someone be arrested for killing somebody who dies 2 years after his arrest? The said deceased was arrive the time this guy is arrested and was charged with this murder case but the said killed was arrive until this year; it doesn’t make any sense, and he was told if he wants to get out he must pay one million Tshs, he had no money and so he stays in jail up to now.
- Corruption within police force is highly pronounced as without bribing them nothing can be done towards justice and people knows that, it is a known fact that right is for sale out there, it is the HAVES vis-a-vis the HAVE NOT.
- There is a big gap between the police and the people as the fact clearly shows police are not friends of the common people but rather enemies, people do not take police as a tool to get justice but rather an instrument to deprive justice.
- The government uses its position to suppress freedom of speech of the tarime people, I have witnessed people are afraid to come out and express what they feel towards their own government officials as they claim that when they do that most of them are arrested, and when they saw us they were thankful and very open to express their feelings and what they are facing, when i asked them why can’t they go to their village leaders or councillors or face the police or DC they simply said it can’t be done as easy as i think, they say human rights or justice are only available in other regions not tarime as in tarime there is no people based system but rather a system to favour and protect a few who are able to turn a blind eye on justice and bend the law towards their favour.
- People are tired of all these and are eager to have a new system, new order and new life with fear-free, justice society, they are tired of being regarded as cruel, heartless, savages and killers they want their names and society to be cleared from all this, and they blame the system for all this, and by system they mean Police and the government as the police do not discharge their duties accordingly but rather favours the existing government.
- These people needs urgent legal aid and human rights education.
- Police needs immediate education on their duties and human rights as they are the one who has to protect but they are doing it contrary to their requirements.
- That police use drugs, specifically Bhangi, this I overheard the police when we were in court they were bragging about what type of Bhangi is great, and there was this police who had the biggest gun of all, he said the Bhangi which so active is the one which is still at its growing stage and it should be smoked while still green and not dry as the smoke which comes out of it are pure, and the other police supported him and they were laughing. We both know what drugs do to people when they use it especially Bhangi as it turns human to animal and that explains their cruelty towards their fellow humans, this is not good at all as far as their duties to the citizens is concerned, how can he prevent drugs while he is the one using it, will this police feel humanity towards the people he encounters?
WHAT DO PEOPLE SAY
“hivi kwa mtindo huu blaza huo ulinzi shirikishi na polisi jamii itawezekana kweli? Maana wanaotaka tushirikiane nao ndio hao hao wanatuua...” that was the answer i got when i asked one of the distant relative of the deceased about what do they think of community police, it is the fact that the way people of tarime perceives the police force there is no way they are going to cooperate in polisi jamii or ulinzi shirikishi as they say police are not their proctors but they are the killers so how can they cooperate with the killer? They insist that this thing will never go unnoticed as they will retariate by taking the law at their own hands until they see justice is done in their own way and not by the law books as the Tanzania law does not apply in tarime.
WHAT DO POLICE SAY
I talked to one National security guy from dare s Salaam headquarters whom we met at police station to hear about what are his views; he gave me different story that those people were shot because they invaded the mine with weapons and threatened to kill the guards so that they take the sand which was said to contain gold, police gave a warning shot but people still charged in and were about to go enter the offices where they keep pure gold, he further said that those people were about 800-1000 in number and guards were only 10, so he further argued that any reasonable person would have done the same as what those guards did and that is firing directly at them, as he provided that it was self defence as the guards could not contain the group of all those people who were with weapon, when i asked him apart from him being a police officer, morally and as a human being what does he say about all this, he said “this is not right, everybody has the right to live, but the problem here is politics is twisting this issue to cover up big issues..” he didn’t say what are the issues which are covered, he further told me that if my partner is not my relative or close friend i should not bother with the case as the case was untouchable for all decisions come from the white house directly from the president who needs to be updated about the case after every 3 hours and i personally overheard him talking on the phone with IGP asking him about the updates of the case, he further said technically there was no case against those 8 people who were arrested but rather it was a way of making sure that they stay in until the burial is done then the next day they will be released on bail, and that was real what happened.
I went to the prison where those arrested were being held and I talked to the prison officer in charge, I went there on two purposes, one to see my partner Mr. Nyembea and two to try to get some information and views about what he thinks, he welcomed me warmly, he helped me see my partner and we talked about the case, he told me there was no case against those arrested but rather it is a political based case, he further said that he is not happy with what is happening as people around there are poor not by choice but because the government make them to be that way and the only source of economy they have is mining, he was wondering when will the government will ever realise that these people needs help and not be brutalised, jailed and beaten up he said this will not solve anything but rather increase enmity between people and their government and soon or later there might be bloodshed out there and the only part to be blamed will be the government for not using proper channels in solving the community problems.
WHAT DO RELATIVES SAY
They are so saddened with the whole situation, from killing to the denial of their right to bury their deceased humanly and with respect, they blame the government, the police and all other people who sides and support the government on this, after we talked to them we wanted to know some details concerning their deceased and relation they had with them, they were very cooperative and gave us the very details we were asking and the table bellow explains these details.
sn | NAME OF THE DECEASED | AGE | PLACE OF LIVING | WHERE WAS HE SHOT AT | INTERVIEWEE |
1 | Emmanuel Magige | 27 yrs Single | Nyakunguru-Nyamongo | Back-with 2 bullet holes (waist-1 bullet Back-1bullet) | Magige Gati (father) |
2 | Chacha Ngoka Chacha | 19 yrs-Single | Kiwanja-Nyamongo | Back and the bullet came out through chest. | Gasaya Matiko Maisaya. (Uncle) |
3 | Chawali Boke | 28yrs- Married with 3 kids | Sedeko-Serengeti | Back of the Head and it came out of through face. | Mkono Boke (Brother) |
4 | Mwikwabe Marwa Mwita | 32 yrs-Married with 4 kids. | Kitunguruma-Serengeti | Waist/stomach | Chacha Marwa Mwita (Brother) |
5 | Chacha Mwita | 25 years-Single | Nyamongo and was buried at Bizaru through gvt intervention to hide the fact. | on his back 3 Bullet holes were found | Marwa Mwita (Step brother) |
All in all the government should be extra careful in the future in dealing with such situations as they occur because if no early preparations to prevent future occurrence of this kind, it will not surprise me if one day the genocides like that of Rwanda happens in Tarime.
No comments:
Post a Comment