Chadema says No to team on Mwangosi

By Fariji Msonsa, The Citizen Reporter
Dar es Salaam. Chadema has expressed serious doubts on the five-man commission formed by the Home Affairs minister, Dr Emmanuel Nchimbi, to investigate circumstances that led to the death of Iringa-based journalist, Mr Daudi Mwangosi, on Sunday.
Talking to reporters at party headquarters, the Chadema director of Legal, Constitution and Human Rights department, Mr Tundu Lissu attacked the commission, alleging that some of its members’ competency was questionable.
But in a quick rejoinder, Dr Nchimbi dismissed Chadema’s concern, noting that he has already fulfilled his responsibility as minister and at this point, he wouldn’t entertain suggestions on the probe team’s set up. “What I am waiting for now is a report on what happened until the journalist was killed; I won’t entertain anything that’s bent on diverting us from this task,” he said.
But discrediting the team, Mr Lissu, a lawyer by profession, singled out the chairman of the commission, Court of Appeal Judge Stephen Ihema, as a person who wasn’t fit to head such an important task. “The team has been formed on the basis of personal friendship,” he claimed, noting that this would hinder free and competent investigation.
He said his party was also not satisfied with the terms of reference for the commission, since most of those issues are known to the public through photos published in newspapers and aired through television stations.
“Most of the things are clear to the public. What we want is the top officials including the minister and the Inspector General Police (IGP) to be investigated if they ordered the police to kill,” said Mr Lissu.
He said that the probe team itself is inefficient since most of its members are not familiar with that field, calling on President Jakaya Kikwete to intervene and form a new team “comprising respected judges from the Court of Appeal and may be the High Court but not judge Ihema.”
Furthermore, he said, Chadema would like to see Dr Nchimbi take political responsibility over the killing by stepping  down or alternatively, the President should fire him. The Union of Tanzania Press Clubs (UTPC) president, Mr Kenneth Simbaya, warned yesterday they would be watching to see if anyone is attempting to give misleading information to the commission.
“Basically, we all know what happened. We don’t expect an entirely different version of what happened,” Mr Simbaya said.
And residents of Busoka Village appealed to Dr Nchimbi to closely follow up the performance of the commission so that it comes up with the truth.
Meanwhile, the Trade Union Congress of Tanzania through union’s assistant secretary general Mr Hezron Kaaya wondered why the team has been given “a whole 30 days to accomplish the work while most of the facts and details of what happened were a public knowledge.”
From Mwanza, CCM issued a statement condemning brutal killing of the Channel Ten reporter. Ideology and Publicity secretary, Nape Nnauye, issued the party’s statement at CCM Regional office here that expressed “grave concern” at the escalation of violence whenever the opposition does its ‘operations’.
Additional reporting by Hawa Mathias (Mbeya), Mulemwa Mulemwa and Lasteck Alfred (Dar).
“CCM takes this opportunity to offer condolences to the bereaved, members of press and all those touched by this tragedy in one way or another. We call upon the various agencies and commissions created to investigate this with great professionalism and find out the cause of the violence and the circumstances that led to the death of Mwangosi,” said Nnauye in a statement to media.
Additional reporting by Hawa Mathias (Mbeya), Mulemwa Mulemwa and Lasteck Alfred (Dar).