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By Bernard James
Sitting in her small hut and flanked by a relative and her four children, Ms Tatu Musa, 48, is visibly struggling to come to terms with the unexpected horrifying killing of her husband, Mwalami Musa, 54. Three months after the incident, she cannot figure out why Abuu Bashiri, a nephew to her husband, chose the path of wickedness that led to his decision to stab Mr Musa several times in the chest and stomach following a row over FM station radio programmes.
And when Ms Musa went to a nearby mosque with her husband for evening prayers on October 19 last year, came back home together and started preparing food for her loved one, she was oblivious that she had less than an hour to enjoy his company for the last time, after 22 years of marriage.
The untold suffering of losing a loving husband and the difficulties her family is going through after the death of the sole breadwinner is what Ms Musa says is difficult to cope with. Wednesday October 19, 2011, started and seemed to progress well. When the evening came, Mrs Musa left with his husband at 6pm for regular evening prayers and later came back home at around 7pm. As was the norm, she went to the kitchen to prepare food for her husband who had picked his radio and gone outside his house , sat on a coconut trunk and was listening to Islamic FM radio-Imani .
About ten metres away sat Abuu Bashiri, the husband’s nephew, who had also switched on his radio and was listening to a sports programme. Each of the two was listening to their gadgets at high volume. The row started when the deceased asked Abuu to lower the volume of his radio or switch it off altogether to allow for comfortable listening. Tension escalated when Abuu started arguing and refused to heed the call. The argument turned sour and the two started exchanging harsh words which prompted Abuu to get out of control.
At this point, the alleged killer pretended to leave the place and went inside his small house. When he came back, he pouced on Musa and mercilessly stabbed him on the neck, chest and ribs with the knife. When he was done with Mr Musa, he turned on his three children who had empty-handedly attempted to save their father from the brutality. In the ensuing violence, one of the children was seriously injured after he was slashed on his stomach, an injury that left his intestines hanging. “I was in the kitchen around 7.30pm when I heard my children screaming for help. When I went out I could not find my children but only saw Mzee (Musa) bowed while holding his knees and vomiting blood. I screamed for help from neighbours,” she narrated.
“As I tried to understand what had gone wrong, suddenly I saw my grandson Abuu running inside the house holding his stomach. He fell at the door and when we approached him we realised part of his tummy had been ripped open and the intestines were hanging. Later we realised that two other kids had also been badly injured by the killer,” she said.
At this point, Ms Musa says neighbiours had gathered at the scene, each shocked on seeing what had befallen the family.
Arrangements were made for Mrs Musa to be taken in by a neighbour while others sought help to take her husband to Mkuranga District Hospital. “I was in great fear because we did not know the whereabouts of the killer. I thought he would come back to attack the rest of us,” she said when speaking to The Citizen. At around 2am, people who had taken her husband to the hospital returned with the news that her husband had died on his way to the hospital and that two of her kids were receiving treatment at the hospital while her grandson was rushed to the Muhimbili National Hospital (MNH).
She cannot figure out why Abuu, a petty trader who has not had any history of confrontation with her husband, decided to end his uncle’s life in such a brutal manner.
Untold suffering
Ms Tatu’s life has become miserable, she says, adding that she has lost the sole breadwinner whom she described as ‘caring’ and with whom she bore seven children over a period of 22 years.
The brutal way in which her husband’s life was terminated is something Tatu says she will never forget.
“My family has been badly affected. My husband left me with no business and all my seven children had not reached the age where they could suddenly become independent. Now the entire burden of taking care of my children is being carried out by my first born Musa, 22, who has taken the responsibility of feeding us all.
“Musa has taken over his father’s duties. He does not have the benefits of an education but he is the one who works hard and takes two of his siblings to school,” she says.
Except two, the rest of the children have not had the opportunity of going to school .“I am not ready to forgive. He (Bashiru) has taken from me…..,” she broke into tears before she continued to narrate the story.
Dramatic chase for the killer
After the killings, Abuu, in fear of retaliatory attacks fled to the nearby Vikindu Forest Reserve and hid there for weeks. In the forest, the only things he had was his mobile phone which he used to communicate with his friends and relatives from his hideout.
According to police documents, a day after the murder, Abuu started telephoning the head of the investigations department at Mkuranga Police Station. He is said to have asked to be provided with security so that he could attend the burial of his uncle.
Even as the burial ceremony was underway, the killer is said to have made several calls to ask if there was a way he could attend the burial. With limited means of surviving at the forest, Abuu would sometimes be forced to emerge from his hideout to beg for food at a nearby secondary school .
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