Wife of spying suspect held in Malawi appeals for help

Mrs Rose Mahundi, the wife of one of eight Tanzanians held in Malawi on suspicion of spying at her sitting room with her daughters in Songea recently. She has appealed to President John Magufuli to intervene in the matter and talk to his Malawian counterpart so that her husband, Wilbert, and other Tanzanians held in the neighbouring country since December last year, are released. PHOTO | JOYCE JOLIGA

What you need to know:

  • Others include, Briton Mateus Mgaya, Wakisa Elias Mwansangu, Majidi Nkota, Christandusi Ngowi, Ashura Kyula, Martin Guido Ndunguru and Rainery Komba.
  • Human rights activists in the country say that the eight are mistreated and denied legal and humanitarian support.

Songea. Thoughts of what could have happened to her husband make Ms Rose Mahundi sleepless at night. Her husband, Mr Wilbert Mahundi, an elected councillor for Ruhuwiko Ward in Songea Municipality, is among eight Tanzanians detained in Malawi since December 21 last year over trespassing and reconnaissance.

Others include, Briton Mateus Mgaya, Wakisa Elias Mwansangu, Majidi Nkota, Christandusi Ngowi, Ashura Kyula, Martin Guido Ndunguru and Rainery Komba.

Human rights activists in the country say that the eight are mistreated and denied legal and humanitarian support.

But that is only part of what Rose heard has happened. Rumour has it that Mahundi and his fellow suspects were reportedly found with drugs or shisha.

“Others say that he is already dead,” she says, adding that the reports have psychologically affected her and their three children who are being bullied in school because of the incident as reported in the media.

Families miss him

“I miss him,” Rose says. She sometimes stays awake thinking about her husband. But she encourages herself to keep on since and remain strong now she has become the sole bread winner.

She has had to sell their livestock and accept financial support from family and friends in order to survive.

“Life has suddenly changed. I feel awful about it. We are all unhappy. The children and I were used to banking on him as the bread winner,” she explains, adding that they had closed her business when she fell sick recently and became a stay-at-home mother.

Children suffer

“My children now suffer because of Wilbert’s absence. We need food, school fees for our children and farm inputs. All these require money. I’m asking the government to help me,” Rose, the mother of three, says.

Grace, their second born, is in Form Four preparing to sit for this year’s national exams while their first born, Glory, is also required to pursue further studies. The last born, Wolubaga, needs school supplies.

The arrest of her husband has made her fall out with many people, who despite her long silence, have been mudslinging her spouse and uttering defamatory words against him. She has not been able to tolerate them anymore, saying she has found herself hitting back.

Suspected spy is politician

“My husband is a political leader, who has helped many people. Victimising him with petty issues has been painful to hear. But they should remember that he (Wilbert) is a human being with a family that loves and depends on him. They should stop victimising him on the things he has not committed. We will take action against them,” she says, adding, “I ask President Magufuli to help us by talking to his Malawian counterpart over this because they have persevered a lot.”

Besides being a councillor, Mr Mahundi is the director of a non-governmental organisation known as Tanzania Mineral Mining Trust Fund (TMMTF). He is a project planning consultant on environmental conservation and HIV/Aids counsellor.

She says she wants to visit her husband, but she can’t afford the fare to and from Malawi.

Mrs Mahundi asks the government to take the issue of her husband and other incarcerate Tanzanians seriously. “All we can do now is praying until the day when we’ll reunite,” she says.

Relatives agonising

Mr Geofrey Komba cannot comprehend how long it has been since he heard his brother’s voice. His another brother, Rainely, is among the detainees. He had asked Geofrey to stay at his place while he was away.

He says there is no other member of their family who has ever received a call from Rainely. This has been painful for the family and makes their parents heartbroken because they do not know what has really happened.

“We have had a number of kindred meetings which have not been fruitful since there is nothing we can do. We hope that the government would help us,” Geofrey says.

He explains that Rainely is the pillar of the family. They had thought he would have returned home within six days as he bade them farewell, however, there has been a lot of bad words that dented their entire family.

Geofrey says, “Our father is unhappy. When we first heard the news, he couldn’t even sleep, he wept all the time and demanded for his son to be brought home. However, we have tried to comfort and tell him that he is alive and will return home.

“We are all deeply hurt. Despite continuing to pray for him to come back home safely, the government should help us to bring our brothers back. We hear that they are being mistreated, they are even being denied food. This deeply hurts us,” Geofrey says.

“No one can feel how this hurts us and how we struggle for the freedom of our brothers, only God knows. My brother’s only son has also been asking for his father. He is not at peace,” he says.

Rainely’s neighbour, Moses Kipanga, says the arrest of their compatriot deeply hurts him.

He testifies of what a decent man Rainely is, calling on those who spread damaging reports against him to stop hurting relatives and friends of those being held in Malawi and instead they should offer moral support until their return.