The Inspector General of Police Camillus Wambura said on Monday, July 15, 2024, that the Police force is not involved in the kidnapping of people in Tanzania.
“First, it should be known that we are not involved in the abduction of people. We are a force that protects the safety of people and their properties, so those who accuse us of abduction, it is a disrespect to us,” said Wambura during his working visit in Simiyu region.
Wambura remarked this at a time when there is a rise in incidents of abductions of people with many fingers pointing in the direction of the Police and other security apparatus.
One of the recent cases that raises eyebrows is the one related to Edgar Mwakabela, a 27-year-old who survived an assassination attempt, Mwakabela confessed that his kidnappers first took him to a workshop inside the Oysterbay Police.
Another case that raised suspicion and continues to be debated is the one involving a 29-year-old Kombo Twaha Mbwana, a local leader of the opposition party CHADEMA who went missing on June 15, 2024. On July 14, 2024, Police revealed that they had been detaining him for the misuse of social media.
Wambura explained the rise in incidents of abduction is the result of increasing crime in society and also some people kidnap themselves.
“But some people go away on their own and then they claim they have been kidnapped. Recently, we witnessed in Mwanza a young child 12 years old who kidnapped himself and his younger sibling and demanded money from their mother. Therefore, the critical thing is for our society to change to stop criminal acts, for our society to stop false reports due to self-kidnapping, and stop giving false information,” argued Wambura.
