Sugu’s bitter 90 minutes

Dar es Salaam. A Senior Resident Magistrate for the Mbeya Resident Magistrate Court, Mr Michael Mteite spent 90 minutes to hand a five-month jail term on the Member of Parliament for Mbeya Urban, Mr Joseph Mbilinyi (Chadema) and the opposition party’s secretary for the Southern Highland Zone, Mr Emmanuel Masonga.

Actual reading of the judgment started at 9:32AM on Monday and by 11:00AM, Mr Mteite had delivered the key message: he had proved beyond any reasonable doubt that the Mbeya Urban MP and his co-accused were guilty of the offence.

The court had nothing to doubt that Mr ‘Sugu’ and his co-accused had delivered ‘hate speech’ against President John Magufuli at Mwenge primary school grounds in Mbeya city on December 30 last year.

Security was tight within the Mbeya Resident Magistrate Court’s vicinity during the time of delivering the judgment, with a good number of well equipped Field Force Unit (FFU) officers deployed there.

The Chadema deputy secretary general (Mainland) John Mnyika, Arusha Urban MP Godbless Lema and the party’s youth wing (Bavicha) chairman, Mr Patrick Ole Sosopi were among the prominent cadres for the opposition party who witnessed ‘Sugu’s’ sentencing.

Also present were: Chadema chairman for the Nyasa Zone and Iringa Urban MP, Peter Msigwa, the party’s Nyasa Zone vice chairman Sadrick Malila, Momba MP David Silinde, Tunduma MP Frank Mwakajoka, Njombe Special Seats MP, Lucia Mlowe, Rukwa Special Seats MP Aida Khenan, Mbeya City Council Mayor David Mwashilindi and the party regional chairman for Mbeya, Joseph China.

Mr ‘Sugu’ and Mr Masonga were represented in the case by lawyers Peter Kibatala, Prof Abdalah Safari and Faraji Mangula.

In what sounds like Mr ‘Sugu’ and Mr Masonga had sensed the outcomes of the ruling, the duo urged their supporters on Sunday to remain calm irrespective of the kind of a ruling that the Magistrate would issue.

Speaking on Sunday, February 25, Mr ‘Sugu’ told his supporters to remain calm and accept any form of judgment from the resident’s Magistrate Court.

“All you need to do is be calm and wait for the court’s decisions. This isn’t the time of mourning. We need to evaluate where we are taking the region to for the interest of the people,” he told residents of Mbeya region.

For his part, Mr Masonga said they have learnt great lessons regarding lives of imprisoned Tanzanians during the one month that the two spent behind bars.

During the hearing, the state produced five witnesses and an audio exhibit that was said to have been recorded by the fifth prosecution witness, Police Inspector Joram Magova.

The defence called in six witnesses including the co-accused who denied any wrongdoing.

Initially, the co-accused were defended by three advocates: Sabina Yongo, Boniface Mwabukusi and Hekima Mwasipu.

In due course, they all ‘dropped’, leaving the case in the hands of renowned Advocate Peter Kibatala.

Mr ‘Sugu’ and Mr Masonga were arraigned on January 16, 2018, when the charge against them was formally read in court by State Attorney Joseph Pande.