INSIGHT : Symptoms of early stages of failed state now appears in our midst

 Dar es Salaam. My heartbeat faltered, when I listened to President Obama praising President Kikwete during their press conference at the State House in Dar es Salaam. He said “Tanzanians continue to work to strengthen their democracy.  The Parliament, opposition parties, civil society groups, and journalists as they are all doing their part to advance the good governance and transparency upon which democracy and prosperity depend. And I want to commend President Kikwete on the reform efforts to strengthen institutions, improve the delivery of basic services, and make government more responsive to the Tanzanian people.”  As President Obama was speaking, CUF deputy director for Organisation, Elections and Parliamentary Affairs Shaweji Mketo, his driver and four other fellow party leaders were languishing in Mtwara Prison after being beaten and tortured at the Tanzania People’s Defence Force (TPDF) barracks in Naliendele in Mtwara District.

On 22 May, 2013 after a budget speech of the minister for Energy and Minerals during a parliamentary budget session in Dodoma, there were widespread riots in Mtwara. The budget speech reiterated that the natural gas pipeline from Mtwara to Dar es Salaam must be constructed. The people of Mtwara have been demanding that development projects in Mtwara using Mnazi Bay and Msimbati gas should be implemented before transporting gas to Dar es Salaam.  These development projects that CCM - the ruling party and its government has promised Mtwara residents include a 300MW-gas power plant, a fertiliser plant that uses gas as a feed stock and a cement factory. The 300MW plant was included in the Tanesco Master Plan and was scheduled to be completed by 2012.

The police were unable to restore law and order and the government ordered the military to assist in policing Mtwara Region.  Apparently, the military was given a free hand and have been arresting innocent civilians and taking them to Naliendele barracks where they have beaten and tortured them.

Some CUF leaders from Mtwara who were not in the municipality during the riots were accused of instigating the riots and were charged with unlawful assembly. Mketo had gone to Mtwara to attend a hearing of their court case against CUF leaders who are being tried for unlawful assembly. The case was adjourned until June 27.  Afterwards Mketo met with other CUF members in Mtwara. He was told of widespread human rights violations committed by soldiers of the Tanzania People’s Defence Forces and the Police. One allegation was particularly shocking. A Msimbati Village woman was raped by a soldier in her house, while two other armed soldiers were guarding the house. She reported the heinous crime to the police and later was examined by a medical personnel who confirmed the rape. Additionally, the rapist had left condoms in the house. The police did not take any action against the suspected rapist.  Mketo considered this as a very serious allegation. He could not appeal to state organs to prosecute the suspected rapist unless he was convinced that the allegations were true. It was decided that he should talk to the family of the woman who was raped. They drove a CUF vehicle to Msimbati.

They met the family of the victim. Her father is Seleman Bin Omari. She explained that the day she was raped, three TPDF soldiers in uniform and armed, approached her house. She was lighting a fire so that she could start cooking while her mother was making a mat in the front of their house. Suddenly, a soldier grabbed and took her into one of the bedrooms and raped her. After that he even had the indecency to leave a packet of condoms. They reported the rape to the chairman of the local government (hamlet) who advised the victim to go to the police. The police gave them papers to go to a dispensary for medical examination. Then, they took the medical examination report and to date nothing has happened.

After the discussion with the family of the victim, Mketo and his colleagues left Msimabati and were planning to drive to Dar es Salaam. On their way to Mtwara three kilometres before the junction of Mtwara-Newala Road they met a military vehicle jamming the road and a military defender. Armed soldiers rushed to their vehicle and started beating the CUF leaders without any questions, reasons or justification. They were thrown into the military vehicle like sacks of cassava and taken to the military barracks at Naliendele. All their possessions- laptops, cell phones and money were taken by the soldiers.

We realised that something awful had happened to them, when a colleague called Mketo’s cell phone number and this call was answered by somebody who was definitely not Mketo.  Moreover, he refused to identify himself. I was informed of this situation and so I called Mketo’s cell phone number. Again, someone who was not Mketo answered my call. When I asked where is Mketo and why is he being detained? The respondent of my call was furious and told me to stop asking stupid questions. CUF deputy secretary-general Julius Mtatiro called the Mtwara regional police commander to ask whether any CUF leaders had been arrested by the police. The RPC said he was in Lindi going to Mtwara, but assured him that the police had not arrested any CUF leaders in Mtwara.

We informed MP for Mtambile Hon Masoud, who is a member of the Parliamentary Committee for National Security, who was able to get information through his contacts that Mketo and his colleagues were being held at Naliendele Barracks.

When Mketo and his colleagues were at Naliendele Barracks, they were stripped naked, they were forced to lie on their stomachs as a mixture of cold water and salt was poured onto their backs and they were slashed and kicked mercilessly. A year ago, Mketo had a major operation. He was feeling excruciating pain after being kicked heavily on his right side. He appealed to the soldiers, telling them that he had an operation and the wound was not fully healed, he then begged them to kick him in all other places, but not his right side. 

His appeal was met by even heavier kicks on the part of the body he was operated on. He fainted. He awoke probably around 4am in the morning to find himself connected to a drip. He was astonished why he was been given medication through a drip. He wondered what had happened. His colleagues informed him that he fainted and the soldiers injected him with an unknown drug in an attempt to revive him and then started giving him some medicine through a drip. Overnight he had been given three bottles of medication or fluid.

His colleagues told him that he was lucky he fainted. Throughout the night they were beaten by a changing team of torturers. One team will beat them for one hour and then leave and within few minutes a new team would come and continue beating them. The soldiers, who were torturing them appeared to be under the influence of alcohol or drugs. They had no sense of human compassion. Our local leaders are elders, one is over 70 years old and two over 60 years old. They were all beaten mercilessly.

Between 5 and 6am the soldiers returned and forced Mketo to lie on his stomach and started slashing his legs until when they were tired possibly an hour or more. He felt a lot of pain and there was a lot of blood in his stool. After sunrise the beating stopped. Army officers came to greet them. Later in the morning around 11.00am they were taken to a room to meet TPDF officers in charge of the barracks, the regional police commander and the regional crimes officer. They were asked few questions and the TPDF officers handed the people who had been tortured in the barracks throughout the night to the police. They did not return their property.

The police took the detainees under tight security to the Mtwara police headquarters. They were interrogated and explained what had taken place and the beating at Naliendele army barracks. Astonishingly, the regional police commander who correctly told Mtatiro by phone that there were not CUF leaders who had been arrested by the police framed charges against Mketo and his colleagues.

In the afternoon around 4.00pm Shaweji Mketo and five others were taken to court and charged: The first count: conspiracy to commit an offence contrary to section 384 of the Penal Code. The particulars of the offence are that on June 27, 2013 on Msimbati Road within the Mtwara Rural District and region of Mtwara they did conspire to commit an offence. The  second count is unlawful assembly, contrary to section 74(1) and 75 of the penal code read together with sections 43, 44 and 45 of the Police Force and Auxilliary Service Act. The particulars of the offence are that on June 27, 2013 on Msimbati Road within the Mtwara Rural District and region of Mtwara take they took part in unlawful assembly in such a manner that caused a breach of the peace and fear to the public.

The third count is soliciting and inciting the commission of offences, contrary to section 390 of the Penal Code. The particulars of the offence are that on June 27, 2013 on Msimbati Road within the Mtwara Rural District and region of Mtwara they did incite the people of Mtwara to commit offences.

Despite the fact that Mketo and his colleagues looked sick and in need of medical care, they bail conditions were tough. Each of the accused could be bailed by one person with immovable property valued at Sh20 million or more. Very few people have property that has been valued. They could not meet the bail conditions and they were taken to Mtwara Prison. The prison authorities refused to remand Mketo and his colleagues because they were too sick. The police took them to Mtwara Hospital for treatment.

The doctor who attended the tortured victims informed the police that the hospital did not have any medication. Mketo requested some CUF sympathisers to raise money to purchase the required medication. They were returned to Mtwara Prison and the prison officers had already been pressured to accept them regardless of their sickness. The prison officers were given instruction no one should be allowed to see Mketo and his colleagues.

The deputy secretary-general arrived in Mtwara on June 28 and went to Mtwara Prison. The prison warden refused to allow him to see Mketo and his colleagues. He had to appeal to the Regional Prisons officer to be allowed to see at least Mketo. To his credit the Mtwara Regional Prisons officer had the courage to allow Mtatiro to meet Mketo.

Fortunately, Mtatiro had arrived in Mtwara and was able to get six houses that had been valued to be worth Sh20 million or more. The papers were presented to the court and they were informed that the owners of the property had not paid the required property taxes and, therefore, those properties could not be used to meet bail conditions. However, the magistrate who was dealing with the case withdrew from it.

Mtatiro organised for property taxes to be paid and all paper work to be in order. The lawyer of Mketo and his colleagues presented an affidavit and bail papers in order for his clients to be given bail. He assured our lawyer that he was going through the documentation. He left the office without talking to our lawyer, but left the papers with his secretary with a note that the bail conditions had not been fulfilled because the property owners had offers for their plots and not title deeds. Mketo and his colleagues continued languishing in prison.

The torture of Mketo and his colleagues took place after Prime Minister Mizengo Pinda spoke in Parliament ordering the police to “Piga tu. Tumechoka!” (Beat them. We are tired!). The Prime Minister was answering a question of a CCM Member of Parliament, who mentioned widespread human rights abuses where state organs were beating innocent civilians. The response of the Prime Minister in Parliament was a disgrace to our Constitution and the rule of law.

My blind nationalism has always made me proud of our TPDF who in 1978 defeated Idd Amin forces that invaded Tanzania. The few TPDF officers I have met are honourable and patriotic people. It is so painful to learn that civilians are being tortured in a TPDF barrack and a soldier in uniform can rape an innocent woman in her home with impunity. A woman who most likely voted for Presedent Jakaya Kikwete and Minister Hawa Ghasia in the 2010 general elections has nowhere to appeal for her rights and protection. She lives in fear. She doesn’t know when the suspected rapist will return to her home. All authorities in Mtwara are involved in covering up the crime. They have no ethical principles guiding them.

The TPDF has no constitutional authority to arrest civilians let alone beat and torture them. The fact that the torturing of civilians was conducted in an army barracks means that senior officers had the knowledge and sanction these activities. The role of the police is to justify the torture by framing criminal cases against the victims. The courts are given instructions to set difficult bail conditions and look for any technical excuse to refuse bail. A magistrate or judge who receives victims of torture in his court, people who are in great pain, who do not have a lawyer to represent them does not have even a moral courage of asking what happened to these people.

President Kikwete who knows what is going on in Mtwara was smiling when President Obama congratulated him for promoting democracy and good governance.

Extensive human rights abuses in Mtwara Region, the torturing of Dr Ulimboka, the journalist, Absalom Kibanda, the explosion of a hand grenade at a political rally of Chadema and other incidents may be early symptoms of a failed state. It is important for the authorities particularly President Kikwete to arrest these developments. If he gets lost in Obama’s praises and continues to condone flagrant human rights abuses by armed forces our country will suffer enormously. Even before starting to significantly exploit the natural gas resources, Mtwara is being turned into a Niger Delta of Tanzania.

Prof Ibrahim Lipumba holds a doctorate in economics from Stanford University, California. He is CUF national chairman.