Confirmed: Police bullet did hit a civilian amid poll-related fracas

Dar es Salaam Special Police Zone Commander Lazaro Mambosasa

Dar es Salaam. Dar es Salaam Special Police Zone Commander Lazaro Mambosasa on Saturday, February 17, confirmed that one person had been shot as police attempted to disperse Chadema followers at a rally on Friday evening.

Speaking to MCL Digital on Saturday, Mr Mambosasa said that “The demonstrators attacked the police with stones. So, in self defence, police fired live bullets as well as applied tear gas to try and disperse the crowd. I, thus, suspect that one of the bullets accidentally hit the person.”

In his explanations, Mr Mambosasa did not clarify if the victim had died or not.

However, the reports circulated on social media platforms suggested that the victim was a student at one of the higher learning institutions here in the city.

The reports on social media further suggested that the victim was shot dead by police on Friday and that she was a passenger in one of the commuter buses passing by.

“It is yet to be verified. At the moment, I’m focused on ensuring that the by-election is conducted safely. I’ll provide further information on the matter once I get back to the office,” said Mr Mambosasa when asked to confirm if it was true that the victim was a student at the higher learning institution and that she had indeed died of police shooting.

This came after Chadema followers led by party national chairman Freeman Mbowe on Friday decided to walk to the office of the Kinondoni Constituency returning officer, Mr Aron Kagurumjuli, who is also the Kinondoni District Executive Director, to demand that copies of affidavits for their party agents be handed to the respective figures so that they would be allowed to witness how voting would be conducted.  

The demonstration started at Buibui grounds in Mwananyamala where the party by-election campaign was held.

However, reports from the returning officer had it that the affidavits were distributed at 11pm on Friday, February 16.