Pundits point to recent demonstrations in Dar es Salaam
In most cases of unlawful civilian killings by state agents, regional and district authorities have been unwilling to take action against the culprits according to a 2011 LHRC report.
By Louis Kolumbia
The Citizen Correspondent
Dar es Salaam. 2013 is shaping up to be as tense as last year for Tanzania, with pundits saying that there is a high likelihood of more extrajudicial civilian killings if the government does not take deliberate action to end perceived injustices.
Analysts and social commentators told The Citizen on Sunday in recent interviews that the nation saw a record number of violent confrontations and civilian casualties in 2012 because the Kikwete administration has failed to resolve legitimate citizen grievances.This year, those in power have to get their act together andoffer wananchi opportunities to freely voice their opinions, according to scholars and political observers. Government also needs to safeguard the basic rights of its citizenry, they say.
“The next time something happens anyone could die so to ensure zero [civilian] killings in 2013, the government first needs to review how it hires law enforcement officers,” Hellen Kijo-Bisimba of the Legal and Human Rights Centre (LHRC) told this reporter.
Her agency has published reports that have put law enforcement officials squarely in the thick of events that led to unlawful civilian killings between 2003 and 2012. At least 22 people were murdered by the police, prison sentries, park warders and other officials last year alone, says the LHRC.
The human rights agency claims that most civilians were killed due to glaring shortcomings in the enforcement of the rule of law. Most deaths occurred during political rallies as a consequence of violent clashes between opposition supporters and police officials, they say.
Dr Kijo-Bisimba told this reporter that last year’s events are an indication that wananchi are frustrated. The Kikwete administration, she said, “needs to revise weak laws and to allow freedom of expression in accordance with the constitution.”
Unlawful civilian killings have adversely affected the political process in Tanzania, according to a 2011 LHRC human rights report. When the police brutally quash citizens during political rallies, their actions infringe on freedom of assembly, says the brief.
Chadema secretary-general Willibrod Slaa agrees with the LHRC assessment. “When the public feels ignored, the people might revolt against infringements on their rights,” he said. “Chances are they might be willing to die in pursuit of justice,” noted Dr Slaa.
Frequent demonstrations last year indicate that the public has had enough, according to the opposition strongman. “In 2013 the CCM government should direct its efforts into making sure that they redress citizen problems,” Dr Slaa said.
Dr Slaa promised Chadema will continue to encourage citizens to exercise their constitutional rights. The goal, he said, is to ensure the masses are neither sidelined by investor-friendly national policies on key natural resources nor are they made victims of corruption and oppression.
Others think the situation will only get worse in 2013. “Truth be told, the killings have barely started,” said Jukwaa la Katiba chairperson Deus Kibamba, who argues that Tanzanians are going through a social and political awakening.
“When citizens realize just how oppressed they are, more protests are likely to follow. This means more demos, more arrests and of course, more civilian killings as law enforcement and wananchi clash,” he said.
While he advises the government to take action against officials whose behaviour threatens peace in Tanzania, Mr Kibamba’s personal stance is decidedly more militant. “We don’t know who is next, but it is better a few people die for the liberation of millions,” he said.
The Inspector General of Police (IGP) Said Mwema decline to comment for this article. He did however; tell our reporter that to prevent extrajudicial killings in 2013, the Police Force has brought into play a major action plan on national security.
“I don’t have all the data with me, but details of [the Police Force’s] standby security strategies will be availed to you on Monday [tomorrow] if you don’t mind coming to my office,” said the police chief.
Plan or no plan, commentators hope the nation does not see a replay of last year’s reel. Events such as the killing of protestors in Songea last February and the brutal slaying of journalist Daudi Mwangosi at the hands of the police have tarnished Tanzania’s reputation, analysts say.
The 2011 LHRC report claims that before the February 22nd killing of Theodat Ngonyani and Mohamed Saidi in Songea, several local residents were killed in running battles with the police between February 18 and 19. In this, and similar cases of unlawful killings by state agents, regional and district authorities have been unwilling to take action against the culprits, according to the LHRC document.
A year earlier on May 16, clashes in Tarime had claimed 21 lives after a horde of frustrated locals descended on the North Mara Gold Mine in what analysts described as one of the most disturbing resources-related killings in Tanzania’s short history.
Couple these events with the fact that the Mwangosi slaying was the first ever instance of a journalist being killed in the line of duty in Tanzania, and you get the markings of an uncertain future for this nation: A future in which civilians and those charged with safeguarding their livelihoods bare their fangs at each other from polar ends of the socio-political spectrum. |
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