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Eyewitness said the three pretended to be officers of NEC, but residents in the area suspected their identities after finding them in possession of five ballot boxes, property of the Commission.
The three were rescued by the police who took them to Himo police post, but after some time a crowd of people gathered at the area asking that the suspected should be handed to them.
The police on resisting, stirred up the crowd which started using force, besides blocking the Moshi-Holili road. It was then that the police used live bullets and tear-gas canisters to disperse the crowd.
Eyewitness said before the crowd was dispersed it was charging into the police post where the three ‘suspects’ were kept
Vonjo Parliamentary Seat candidates James Mbatia of NCCR-Mageuzi and Augustino Mrema of the Tanzania Labour Party (TLP) visited the police post where they saw the three suspects.Kilimanjaro Regional Police Commander Fulgence Ngonyani said the three suspects were arrested between 9.30pm and 10pm when distributing ballot boxes at polling stations.
“Our preliminary investigation show that those people were not vote thieves as some people have claimed. They are NEC officials who were tasked to distribute voting materials at polling stations located along Marangu-Kilema and Himo road,” the RPC said.
He added: “We detained them for a while but people living around the police post tried to storm the post, a move that made the police to use force.”
“But, when we interrogated them, and after getting thorough information from the Vunjo Constituency Returning Officer, Fulgence Mponji, we were satisfied that the ‘suspects’ were NEC officials.”
Commenting on security in the entire region, the regional police chief attested that peace prevails across the region.
SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN
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