‘Killer’ of Tarime MP’s younger brother arraigned

Tarime.  A Police officer, Mr William Marwa, was charged at Tarime District Court on Monday, April 30, 2018, allegedly for stabbing Mr Suguta Chacha to death.

Mr Chacha, the younger brother to Tarime Member of Parliament (MP), Mr John Heche, was killed in questionable circumstances while in police custody.

Earlier on Monday, April 30, 2018, Mr William Marwa, with registration number: E.1156 was arraigned before magistrate A.R. Kahimba, accused of committing the offense on April 20 in the murder case No: PI 76/2018.

Mr Heche confirmed the incident on Friday, April 27, saying he was shocked after learning that his younger brother was no more.

“It is shocking to learn that a suspect has died while under police custody. It seems that we are no longer safe when in the hands of our security officers,” he said. “I can’t go into the details now. I need enough time to think about it because his death has really hurt me.”

Narrating the incident, Mr Wegesa Suguta, who is the deceased’s uncle, said the incident occurred at 11:00PM in Sirari area at the Tanzania-Kenya border. According to him, the departed was arrested at Casablanca Bar by police who were patrolling the area.

“The police entered into the bar and ordered the manager to close it, saying it was already past the time for the business,” he said.

He said Mr Chacha and the bar manager were arrested and then taken to a police station, which is about 400 metres away. Mr Suguta said relatives, who arrived at the station in the morning for bail procedures, were informed that Mr Chacha was dead and that his body was already at the mortuary.

He said the incident attracted hordes of people in Sirari, who gathered at Tarime-Rorya Special Zone Police Station, demanding explanation of the death of Mr Chacha.

The Tarime-Rorya Special Zone Police Commander, Mr Henry Mwaibambe said police held a meeting with members of the family, adding that the police officer linked to the death was already arrested.

“We are going to conduct a postmortem to establish the real cause of his death. We will issue a statement after the postmortem,” said Mr Mwaibambe.