He said on December 28 he received a call from the Tabata officer commanding station (OCS), Ms Leokadia Kobelo, telling him that the case would not proceed because the daughter was aged above 18.
Dar es Salaam. A Tabata resident in Dar es Salaam, Mr John Kayombo, has accused a son of politician Fred Mpendazoe of impregnating and eloping with his daughter, who is a schoolgirl.
Mr Kayombo told this reporter at Tabata Relini recently that Vitalis Mpendazoe, son of the former Kishapu legislator, has been cohabiting with the daughter -- a Form Five student at Songea Girls’ Secondary School -- at his parents’ Tabata home since last year.
“On September 13 last year, the headmistress of Songea Girls’ Secondary School phoned me to pick up my sick daughter. I did so and two days later I sent her to hospital for examination. It was established that she was pregnant. When I asked who had put her in the family she mentioned Mpendazoe’s son, Vitalis,” Mr Kayombo said.
He added: “I communicated with Mpendazoe, who told me my daughter and his son had fallen in love and I should leave them to live together. I was extremely disappointed at the response.”
Mr Kayombo said he reported the matter to the Tabata Police Station. The case was assigned to a detective on December 17. He said, while investigations were still going on, sadly his daughter had a miscarriage because, according to some medics, the embryo was implanted outside the uterus.
“Vitalis went around saying I won’t make any headway in my case. I reported the matter to the police,” lamented the father.
He said on December 28 he received a call from the Tabata officer commanding station (OCS), Ms Leokadia Kobelo, telling him that the case would not proceed because the daughter was aged above 18.
“Vitalis has been cohabiting with my daughter at his parents’ home as a husband and wife!” said the distressed parent.
Songea Girls’ Secondary School head Tupoke Ngwala said Mr Kayombo’s daughter was discontinued from school after it was established that she was pregnant. “All information has been communicated to the parent.”
When contacted, the Tabata OCS denied knowledge of Mr Kayombo’s case.
“He was supposed to talk to me instead of rushing to the media,” the OCS said.
For his part, Mr Mpendazoe said the case involving Mr Kayombo’s daughter was discontinued because she was above 18, of sound mind and an adult capable of making her own choices.
“It isn’t true that the girl is staying at my house and I haven’t seen her for a fairly long time. I remember the last time she came to me, saying she had a dispute with her father and I’m the one, who sent her to the police, who advised her to stay at her grandfather’s home. Therefore, I don’t know her whereabouts and I’m on my way to Shinyanga,” Mr Mpendazoe said.
Vitalis admitted knowing the girl, but claimed she was not a secondary schoolgirl. He insisted that she was doing a certificate course in a city college he did not name.
“Her father threatened to kill her and me. That forced her to leave home. I’ve been communicating with her although I don’t know where she lives now. She isn’t a schoolgirl,” insisted Vitalis.
Vitalis also claims that the girl was forced to abort, the accusation that Mr Kayombo rejects, saying doctors told him that the pregnancy was ectopic, with the embryo implanted outside the uterine cavity. Mr Kayombo asks the media and well-wishers to help so that his daughter would return home and continue her studies.
Mr Kayombo added, however, that although Mpendazoe and his son claim not to know the whereabouts of the girl, she still lives in their home.
