Police ban on Mawazo funeral is illegal: Chadema

Mwanza. The opposition Chadema yesterday warned against any attempt to withhold the body of a senior official who was killed in Geita Region last week.

Chadema leaders were in Mwanza yesterday in an attempt to end a standoff between police and opposition supporters, who were banned from paying their last respects to Chadema Geita Region chairman Alphonce Mawazo.  They said they would seek legal intervention in the matter.  Mr Mawazo was killed last week by unknown people in Busanda District.

Mwanza Regional Police Commander Charles Mkumbo has banned Chadema supporters from paying their last respects to Mawazo on the grounds the gathering could speed up the spread of cholera in the city.

But Chadema leaders, led by chairman Freeman Mbowe, former presidential candidate Edward Lowassa and former Prime Minister Frederick Sumaye, cautioned police against jeopardising peace by arbitrarily banning lawful activities. 

Mr Sumaye told reporters that the decision by police to bar Chadema supporters from paying their last respects to their fallen leader was “illegal”.

“It’s absurd for the government to use the police to prevent mourners from paying their last respects to a person who has died or stop them from making burial arrangements.  This is a deliberate and calculated move to disrupt peace,” he said.

He said the founders of the nation came up with principles and values to ensure Tanzania remains a peaceful country, adding that  Tanzania was on the verge of becoming a “police state”.

“In many countries police have become a source of unrest and violence…barring people from freely exercising their rights can only lead to violence,” he said.

Mr Sumaye said people would seek their rights forcefully if the government will continue to use the Police Force to suppress the basic freedoms.

Mr Mbowe said police should have consulted his party on the best way to assist mourners in paying their last respects instead of imposing an unjustifiable ban.

“The late Mawazo is supposed to be buried according to plans made by his relatives and party, not the police,” he said.

Mr Mbowe added that Mawazo would not be the first high-profile politician to be accorded a befitting farewell in recent months, adding that such an event had been held for a number of leaders who died recently, including Industry and Trade minister Abdallah Kigoda, who passed away last month.

He described as “laughable” the police’s claim that the ceremony had been banned because of cholera fears.

“We would have understood if the ban would have been extended to  gatherings in churches and mosques,” Mr Mbowe said, adding that the order was subjecting the deceased’s family to “psychological torture.”