Tarime and Rorya Special Police zone commander Yustus Kamugisha.PHOTO|FILE
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The police chief said the identity of the senseless killer was still unknown but hinted that he could either be working alone or with some other accomplices.
Tarime. Fear and uncertainty has spread in the districts of Tarime and neighbouring Rorya as the lone gunman who has so far killed eight people and seriously injured three others remains at large.
The police have intensified the manhunt for the killer whose identity and motive are still unknown.
Life in the area has turned upside down as businesses open late and close early, while residents have also restricted their movements, especially at night.
Grieving families whose loved ones were shot dead at close range by the armed man began burying their dead yesterday at emotional funeral ceremonies. The Tarime and Rorya Special Police zone commander Yustus Kamugisha yesterday said a massive manhunt was on for the killer. “We will not rest until we get him and bring him to book. We are appealing to the public to offer any useful information to help us in the resolve to end this heinous crime,” said Kamugisha.
The police chief confirmed that a special team sent to help in the manhunt arrived in Tarime and was already in the field. “We cannot say how the operation will take, but our officers are on the ground looking everywhere possible,” said Kamugisha.
The police chief said the identity of the senseless killer was still unknown but hinted that he could either be working alone or with some other accomplices. “This is what we want to establish and cannot say if he is a resident of the districts or an outsider,” he said in reply to a widespread claim in the area that the killer is a man from another country.
Yesterday, the families of cousins David Matiko, 39, and Sammy Magori who were gunned down on Monday night along Tarime-Nyamwaga road held a funeral service for their fallen relatives. The family of bodaboda drivers Juma Marwa, 30 also buried their beloved at Mlima-Chambiri area.
In Nyamwaga, Matiko was described a hard working engineer who recently returned from DR Congo where he had ventured into business. He was a Kenyan- educated engineer who quit his job at a mining company to establish his own enterprise.
“He was working hard to raise his young family and his business in the region. He was in Congo but returned recently to escape the fighting there,” said his widow Elizabeth, a nurse at the Tarime District Hospital. The couple had one child.
The engineer and his cousin were shot as they returned from a garage in town where they had gone to repair a car.
Residents in Tarime town described how they have been affected by a state of uncertainty, not knowing how they can protect themselves against unprovoked attack from the mystery gunman.
“We hope he will be arrested soon so that our lives return to normalcy. For now it is dangerous to venture out early or late in the evening,” said Ms Leah Weisiko who trades at the busy bus stop.
