Police `puzzle` over Mwanza RPC killing
By The guardian reporter
14th October 2012
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Mwanza Regional Police Commander, ACP Liberatus Barlow
First, the killing could have been masterminded by armed bandits as already indicated in a press statement issued by Inspector General of Police (IGP) Said Mwema yesterday. Secondly, Barlow`s killing could well be an `inside job`, which means that some police officers with ill motives could have a hand in it. However, both theories still remain mere speculations.
According to the statement issued by IGP Mwema yesterday morning, ACP Barlow was killed at around 1:00 am at Kitangiri Minazi Mirefu area in Mwanza region while en route to his home. The statement provided further that before he met his utimely death, ACP Barlow had attended a wedding preparatory meeting at Florida Hotel in Mwanza City. According to IGP Mwema, the Mwanza RPC left for home accompanied by one of his relatives soon after the meeting. The two of them are said to driven home, with Barlow behind the wheel, via Kitangiri Minazi Mirefu area where he dropped his passenger.
He said as ACP Barlow was dropping his relative who was not immediately identified, armed men believed to be bandits emerged from a nearby hideout and shot him (Barlow), killing him instantly. The Police Force, according to IGP Mwema, has since dispatched Director of Criminal Investigation (DCI) Robert Manumba to head investigations into the killing, as well as stepping up security in Mwanza region.
``I understand that such an unpredented incident has saddened all of us. As we continue taking further steps to deal with it I urge the public to remain calm, and accord full support to police,`` Mwema said in his statement. He said his office would continue giving out updates on the matter as they unfolded. But Barlow`s death raises many questions regarding the personal security of regional police commanders, notably so because bodyguards normally accompany RPCs wherever they go. In the case of Mwanza, analysts still cannot figure out whether Barlow`s killing happened a moment after dropping his relative at Kitangiri Minazi Mirefu, an idea that would imply that Barlow’s relative did not witness the killing. But unconfirmed reports say police are holding a woman for questioning.
Another question is whether ACP Barlow was still behind driver’s seat before he was ambsushed by armed bandits. However, his killing comes only 24 hours after a Seniour Immigration Officer in the region, Albert Buchafwe, cheated death when police shot at him in what later came to be termed a case of mistaken identity.
The incident, according to police, took place on Thursday at around 10:00 pm when the immigration officer was also driving home when he chanced upon police officers on patrol who pulled him over and ordered him to get out of his car. Even though he identified himself to the police officers by name, and stating that he was an immigration officer, the police stuck to their guns and maintained he should get out of the car which order he refused to obey. On seeing that the police were readying their arms, he closed the car doors and sped away, prompting the police officers to shoot at his car as he drove off back to the office where he briefed his boss about the incident. It was later revealed that one of the police officers was deputy head of Nyalato Police Post, Abubakar Zebo.
Briefing reporters on Friday, ACP Barlow had said that police had shot at Albert Buchafwe by mistake, saying they had mistaken him for one of `suspected` armed bandits that police were tracking after laying a trap in the area. Buchafwe`s incident reminds the public of a similar episode in 1996 where police shot dead the then retired Director General of Tanzania Intelligence Security Services (TISS), Imran Kombe, in what later transpired as a case of mistaken identity.
SOURCE: GUARDIAN ON SUNDAY
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