Chadema: Pinda is wrong

Dar es Salaam/Arusha. Chadema national chairman Freeman Mbowe yesterday accused the Prime Minister, Mr Mizengo Pinda, of misleading the nation with regard to the political crisis in Arusha.Mr Mbowe, who was reacting to the statement made by the PM in the National Assembly in Dodoma on Thursday, said Mr Pinda’s remarks were “those of a the ruling party’s cadre.”

He said the PM portrayed and struck a posture of one who is not interested in solving the Arusha saga.
In his response during the routine questions and answers session, Mr Pinda charged that Chadema lacked the political will to resolve the Arusha standoff through dialogue. He criticised opposition party’s propensity to “demonstrations and incitement.”

The PM said talks with CCM could not be guaranteed because Chadema had made it impossible for peace to prevail.
Meanwhile the Arusha regional commissioner, Mr Magesa Mulongo, brought in another twist to the saga yesterday, declaring that he would not relent in his war against Chadema and its leaders unless they desist from “causing problems” in his area of jurisdiction.

“We are tired…enough is enough!” he declared while questioning the audacity of Mr Mbowe to want to dictate terms to the State and disrupt tranquility in Arusha.  He claimed that Chadema leaders were only out to win public and international sympathy and publicity.

The RC used the meeting with a cross-section of leaders in Arusha to respond to accusations levelled against him this week by Mr Mbowe. He vowed to deal firmly with the opposition party as the custodian of peace and security.
His tough stance did not go down well with some civic leaders and Chadema sympathisers at the meeting, who walked out to announce that they would also take on Mr Mulongo in their own fashion.

Those who walked out were led by Councillor Isaya Doita of Ngarenaro Ward and Councillor Chrispin Tarimo of Sekei Ward. They said the RC was an appointee of the president so he should serve all the people equally.
On Wednesday, shortly before he was grilled for nearly eight hours by the police, Mr Mbowe claimed that the RC was behind the refusal by the Arusha resident magistrate’s court to decline releasing on bail area MP Godbless Lema who has been in remand prison for two weeks now.    

Yesterday, according to Mr Mbowe who talked to The Citizen on Saturday on the phone, what Mr Pinda said in Parliament was a reflection of the reality, arguing that if any party was not interested in the peaceful resolution of the Arusha saga, that party was CCM.

“I am the one who approached Mr Pinda in April with a proposition that we resolve the matter through dialogue and he personally promised me he was going to see President Kikwete about it  and get back to me, which he didn’t” he said.
He said the only commendable thing Mr Pinda ever did about the Arusha crisis was his giving a directive to the Registrar of political parties Mr John Tendwa who in turn wrote to secretaries general of both CCM and Chadema to submit “issues” to be discussed and names of representatives.

“We promptly submitted our list of issues and names to Mr Tendwa and are therefore still waiting for the meeting to be called; it is Mr Pinda’s party CCM which has refused to do so” he said and added:
“Now, when Mr Pinda says that Chadema is not committed to peaceful resolution of the matter, he is simply not telling the truth to the nation.”

The Hai MP and Leader of the Official Opposition in the Parliament said his party was not happy with the deadlock, given the social and economic cost the disagreement was causing on the tourist hub of Arusha and the country at large.Mr Mbowe went on to reminisce the cause of the crisis, which stemmed from last year’s Arusha Municipal Council Mayoral election of which CCM candidate controversially claimed victory.

“We have legitimate grievances against the mayor whose election did not meet the two-third quorum demanded by the municipal standing orders. We also have evidence that outsiders like MP Mary Chitanda from Tanga (Special Seats) unfairly increased CCM votes in Arusha” he said

He went on to assert that the Police Force under the IGP Said Mwema had failed the people by allowing CCM to use it to further its political agenda and war against Chadema in Arusha. “The force is being used by CCM to curb the unstoppable growth of Chadema in Arusha and I can assure you they will never succeed in their ill plan” he said.
Additional reporting by Peter Saramba