Cop in Nape drama to be investigated

Dar es Salaam. Home Affairs minister Mwigulu Nchemba has instructed Inspector General of Police (IGP) Ernest Mangu to identify and take action against a man, who pulled a pistol on the sacked Information minister, Mr Nape Nnauye, to block him from addressing the media.

Mr Nchemba said the act, which he termed “ungodly and un-Tanzanian” cannot be left to pass unpunished.

“Hon Nape Moses Nnauye is not a criminal, he is a Tanzanian, an MP, a member of the National Executive Committee of the ruling CCM, who has no criminal record,” said Mr Mwigulu, adding that the act of drawing a pistol on him was against professional ethics.

Mr Nchemba posted his directive on his Facebook, Instagram and Twitter pages just a day after President Magufuli made a minor cabinet reshuffle on Wednesday night and replaced Mr Nnauye with Dr Harisson Mwakyembe. The latter was the minister of Constitutional and Legal Affairs.

Police spokesperson Advera Bulimba said they were working on the directives of the minister.

“Yes, the police have received instructions and we are working on it,” she told The Citizen by telephone.

Mr Nnauye’s removal came just a day after he formed a team to investigate a night raid on the premises of Clouds Media Group (CMG) by Dar es Salaam Regional Commissioner Paul Makonda, who forced the producer at the station to air the video footage, which showed a woman claiming that Glory of Christ Tanzania Church Bishop Josephat Gwajima fathered a child with her and abandoned them.

The RC has been engaged in a fierce war of words with Bishop Gwajima after the RC named the cleric as among the people he wanted for questioning for involving in drug use and peddling.

The sacking of Mr Nnauye also came a day after President Magufuli rejected a growing call for him to sack the RC for abuse of office and misconduct. The President has publicly defended Mr Makonda and urged him to continue working hard.

The officer drew a gun on him after a dramatic attempt by police officers to block Mr Nnauye from addressing a press conference he convened hours after the news of his sacking from the cabinet broke out.

Yesterday, Mr Nchemba posted a sympathetic post for Mr Nnauye and promised to take action.

“I am responsible for the security of all citizens of Tanzania. I have directed the IGP to use the pictures to look for the person, who drew the pistol under the pretext of being a cop. If he is a cop the laws governing the profession should take their course,” he said. “If he had managed to do that in public, I’m just thinking aloud of what would he have done if they had met in a passageway?” queried the minister on his post.

For the past two days, social media has been abuzz with the incident that followed Mr Nnauye’s sacking with the majority condemning the police attempt to block him form addressing a press conference for no justifiable reasons.

President Magufuli, however, expressed over the way the media in Tanzania gave the incident prominent coverage. “I wonder that the issue has been given prominent coverage on today’s (yesterday) media as if it was the government, which did that,” said Dr Magufuli during the swearing-in of new ministers at the State House.

On Thursday, Mr Nnauye told reporters after his sacking that his was similar to ‘sowing of a seed of standing for the rights of the people’.

His sacking has created a lot of tension on social media platforms, with the majority being disappointed by President Magufuli’s decision.