Azory’s parents appeal to Magufuli for probe
Azory Gwanda’s Parents, Obadia Gwanda and Eva Mpulumba speak at Msimba Village in Kigoma District yesterday. They made an appeal to President John Magufuli to intervene over the case of their missing son who dissapeard in 2017. PHOTO | ANTHONY KAYANDA
What you need to know:
The family of the missing journalist Mr Azory Gwanda has come out President Magufuli to direct security organs to do whatever it takes to investigate and tell about the fate of their son.
Kigoma. Parents of Mwananchi Communications Limited (MCL) journalist, Mr Azory Gwanda, who has been missing since November 2017, say they were going through untold agony for being in the dark about the whereabouts of their son, they say was a bread winner.
They told journalists at their Msimba Village, Kigoma District that the disappearance of their son has turned their day and nights painful.
“We live in difficult situation since the disappearance of their son because we are in the dark about his whereabouts and we are not receiving any support. We do not know whether he is alive or dead. We ask President Magufuli to help us in searching for him,” she said.
Azory’s father, Obadia Gwanda (96), did not manage to speak to journalists because of his age. His repeated attempts to speak were unsuccessful.
John Gwanda, who is the brother of Azory, said they have decided to speak to journalist because there has been no report about him for eighteen months now since they day he was reported missing.
“We as a family ask the government, specifically President Magufuli, to direct state organs to investigate what happened to our brother,” he said. “We need to know whether he is alive or dead. And if he is dead, we organize a funeral,” he said.
Reacting to the appeal, government’s spokesperson, Dr Hassan Abbas, directed the family members to take their case with the police because it was the responsible authority for investigating such issues.
Mr Gwanda who worked as MCL correspondent in Kibiti District, Coast Region, was abducted by unknown people one and half years ago and it is not known whether he is still alive or dead.
His wife, Anna Pinoni, 35, said on the date, four people driving a Toyota Land Cruiser came and picked him from their home and left. The abductors, she said, behaved in a humble and friendly manner that she could not think they could be bad men.
