Dar es Salaam. Good morning! The Chanzo is here with a rundown of major news stories reported in Tanzania on Friday, August 6, 2021.
Mbowe’s case postponed to August 13
The case against CHADEMA national chairperson Mr Freeman Mbowe was postponed once again yesterday until August 13, 2021, when it’ll be brought for hearing. No reasons were given for the postponement.
State attorneys read the terrorism charges that Mr Mbowe and three others are accused of to the defendants with the latter not allowed to respond to the accusations. Mbowe and his co-accused were taken back to the Ukonga Maximum Security Prison in Dar es Salaam as the charges against them are non-bailable.
Meanwhile, the opposition figure filed a civil case No. 21/2021 against Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Mr Sylvester Mwakitalu and Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Simon Sirro, accusing the two of violating his fundamental rights during his arrest as well as in the entire proceeding of the case against him.
Mr Mbowe was brought before the Kisutu Resident Magistrate Court for the first time on July 26, 2021, accused of taking part in conspiracies to blow up fueling stations and other public gatherings as well as funding terrorist acts.
CHADEMA and other pro-democracy activists have dismissed the terrorism charges against Mr Mbowe as “trumped-up” and “politically motivated”; they have since then called for authorities to drop them. They have said the charge sheet on Mr Mbowe’s case “lacks any legal basis” and would have been “immediately dropped under any competent criminal justice system.”
CHADEMA reported yesterday that a number of its leaders and members were arrested outside the Kisutu Resident Magistrate Court and detained for hours before they were released. They include the party’s Women Wing (BAWACHA) Secretary-General Catherine Ruge and the party’s central committee member Susan Kiwanga, among others.
Two suspended after faking taking covid vaccine
The government yesterday suspended two public officials after they were involved in an act of faking taking the COVID-19 vaccine.
The Head of Primary Education Department at the Arusha Municipal Council Mr Omary Abdalahemedi Kwesiga and Mount Meru medical doctor Scholastica Kanje were caught on camera performing the drama, with the latter pretending to inject the former with COVID-19 vaccine dose while it was clear that she never administered it.
Minister in the President’s Office (Regional Administration and Local Government Authorities) Ummy Mwalimu said in a statement yesterday that she was “saddened” by what the government employees did, adding that the actions went against “the principles and guidelines governing the administering of [COVID-19] vaccines in Tanzania.”
Kanje has been suspended for three months while it’s not clear how long will Mr Kwesiga’s suspension will last.
Although Tanzania has started rolling out its vaccination program to all regions in the country, people’s hesitancy to take the jabs is extremely high, threatening to affect the government’s plan to make sure that all of its citizens are inoculated.
Mwalimu said in a statement yesterday that incidents like this one that involves faking taking the vaccine will boost the anti-vaccination campaign in the country, something that will put many lives at risk.
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