Nyalandu wife refutes husband’s fleeing claims
What you need to know:
- Mr Mwaisumbe confirmed that Mr Nyalandu, who is a top Chadema official and who contested the Singida North parliamentary seat in the October 28 polls, was barred from entering Kenya at Namanga.
Dar es Salaam. Faraja Kotta, who is the wife of opposition politician Lazaro Nyalandu said yesterday that her husband was not travelling to Kenya to seek asylum as claimed by some authorities.
The Longido District Commissioner, Mr Frank Mwaisumbe, alleged on Monday that there was a list of opposition leaders who wanted to flee the country to taint the government’s image.
He did not reveal the names, but said authorities had a long list of names. He was speaking to Mwananchi in an interview after former minister Nyalandu was reportedly blocked from crossing into Kenya yesterday.
Mr Mwaisumbe confirmed that Mr Nyalandu, who is a top Chadema official and who contested the Singida North parliamentary seat in the October 28 polls, was barred from entering Kenya at Namanga.
This came only a day following former Arusha lawmaker Godbless Lema’s escaped into Kenya where he was granted asylum.
But in response, Mrs Nyalandu said her husband did not need a passport to be at Namanga for his personal businesses.
“No, my husband was not trying to cross the border into Kenya. He didn’t need a passport to be at Namanga for his personal business, Tanzania’s side, broad daylight,” she wrote on her twitter page.
She said the Nyalandu family lives in Arusha, which shares the border with Kenya at Namanga. This suggests that there was nothing to marvel at when a resident of Arusha travels to Namanga.
“We live in Arusha. The apprehension didn’t happen yesterday as reported, it was on Friday last week,” said Mrs Nyalandu.
But according to Mr Mwaisumbe, Mr Nyalandu, who served as Natural Resources and Tourism minister during President Jakaya Kikwete administration, wanted to enter Kenya illegally.
“We have information that a list of opposition leaders are planning to leave the country and seek asylum with the view to tainting Tanzania’s image. We are on the lookout,” said the DC, adding that Mr Nyalandu did not have proper documentation and was thus stopped from entering Kenya.
“We seized his car and other items and asked him to fetch their documents if he is to be allowed to proceed with his trip to Kenya. We will charge him in court if he doesn’t bring the said documents,” said Mr Mwaisumbe.
