Mbowe: I’ll sue Makonda over smear campaign

Dodoma/Dar. War on drugs started by Dar es Salaam Regional Commissioner Paul Makonda last week has turned personal. Two days after prominent businessman Yussuf Manji and Bishop Josephat Gwajima accused Mr Makonda of harbouring personal vendetta against them, yesterday the Leader of the Official Opposition Camp and National Chairman of Chadema, Mr Freeman Mbowe, cited personal attacks from the RC.

Just like Mr Manji, Mr Mbowe also vowed to take legal action against Mr Makonda personally.

Mr Mbowe was reacting to his naming by Mr Makonda last Wednesday. He was in the list of 65 people released by Mr Makonda as part of his ongoing anti-drugs war. He asked them to report at the Central Police Station in Dar es Salaam yesterday for interrogation.

But flanked by a number of opposition MPs, Mr Mbowe told a press conference here that he was not going to report to any police station because Mr Makonda lacked legal powers to summon him.

The Chadema leader vowed to drag Mr Makonda to court after unlawfully and maliciously named him in the list of suspected drug addicts and traffickers earlier this week.

According to Mr Mbowe, for his name to be announced in public, his personal image, including his family and that of his party and the entire opposition camp, has been badly tarnished.

“I have built my reputation for decades. I have a family that looks up to me, a party that I lead and a number of members of Parliament who follow my lead and thousands of people who voted for me back in my constituency. Unfortunately, all of them have been tarnished by just one imprudent and thoughtless leader,” he said adding:

“I wonder who Makonda thinks he is, how can he associate me with these serious crimes and order me to go to police, and say it is there that the truth will be established.”

“Say, the police declare that I am innocent, and my name and reputation has already been questioned and dragged through the mud, how will Makonda cleanse my reputation… he is not going to walk away with this. This time he has hit a wrong person and I am going to deal with him accordingly.”

Mr Mbowe, who is also a legislator for Hai, said he was 110 per cent sure that he was clean and had not engaged in drugs either by selling or using and had not associated himself with any trafficker throughout his life and he didn’t need police investigations to confirm that.

He said he would open the case against Mr Makonda next week and would sue him in his personal capacity. “I don’t have any problem with the State, and therefore I will not sue the Republic, but only Makonda for violating laws of the land and injure my name. So, this is personal. He has no means to repay for the harm he has caused me, and my reputation has no monetary value, but I’m obliged to teach him a lesson.”

“Makonda, like any other regional administrator, is empowered by the Regional Authorities Act, and there is no section in the law that gives him powers to summon and conduct investigations,” he said, adding:

“He (Makonda) is associating me with a criminal offence and he is ought to understand that there’s a specific law that governs the procedure of criminal investigations.”

According to Mr Mbowe, he would only cooperate on the matter to the legally established organs of investigations and not fall to Makonda’s trap.

“Our country is ruled by law and not stupid decrees. We have a specific anti-narcotics law, and if the procedure stipulated in there is going to be followed, I am more than willing to cooperate.”

Sabotaging the war

Mr Mbowe said it was clear that narcotics have devastated the country to the core and he was personally and the entire opposition camp supports the anti-drug war. However, he said, RC Makonda instead of waging a battle against narcotics, he was sabotaging it by destroying evidence.

“You say that you’re serious about the war and order the said barons to report, on their own to police three days later. You give a kingpin a three days to report or destroy evidence,” he said adding, “If you ask me, Makonda is after cheap popularity, using the media to malign big names. Thanks to Minister Nape (Nnauye) he was bold enough to criticise Makonda’s modus operandi, and stood for people’s reputations.”