I’ll write letter to Magufuli, says freed Arusha MP

Arusha. A letter to the President. He will write it to narrate what he described as the “agony” of suspects in remand custody. After spending the past 122 days battling to get out of it, outspoken Arusha Urban MP Godbless Lema told journalists he had a story to tell as he tasted freedom yesterday.

The Chadema legislator was finally bailed out after spending four months behind bars at the Kisongo Remand Prison. He was charged with incitement.

Scores of his followers celebrated. Security was tight at the High Court, but it took an extra effort to stop the multitude of followers, some on bodaboda, who wanted to force their way into the premises.

It took Lady Justice Salma Maghimbi 22 minutes to grant bail to the embattled MP whose bail application was repeatedly blocked by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) since the hearing of his case started in November last year.

Mr Lema was arrested from Parliament grounds on November 2, and brought to Arusha to face his charges.

He is accused of making negative remarks about President John Magufuli. The police said the lawmaker’s comments were aimed at inciting the people against the State.

Since the case began at the Arusha Resident Magistrate’s court, Mr Lema failed to get bail due to objection from state attorneys.

That forced him to spend 122 days in remand prison. Early this week, a judge criticised the state attorneys for the manner they handled the opposition MP’s case, raising hopes that he could finally taste freedom.

That hope turned into a reality yesterday.

And granting the bail, Lady Justice Maghimbi defended the Resident Magistrate’s Court for granting Mr Lema bail on November 11.

She said the objection to bail him by the DPP’s Office could have sufficient grounds if the applicant had not met the bail conditions, which was not the case for the MP.

A celebratory mood engulfed the High Court precincts, with some women followers of the opposition party providing their khangas for the MP to walk on.

Mr Lema was bailed out for Sh1 million. He was also required to provide three sureties, who signed a Sh1 million bond. He fulfilled the conditions.

After the paperwork, he left the court grounds at around 3.45pm in the company of his wife Neema, Chadema national chairman Freeman Mbowe and special seats MP for Arusha Joyce Mukya.

The bail was granted despite efforts by the DPP to raise further objections.

Justice Maghimbi was forced to adjourn the case for two hours in the morning to give the DPP the opportunity to file the objections.

She later allowed the respondents one hour to respond, and the case resumed at 1.33pm.

After the bail was granted, the defence team also withdrew a number of appeals, which they had earlier lodged to contest the DPP objections.

Mr lema is being defended by a team of five lawyers, including Mr Peter Kibatala, Mr John Mallya, Mr Adam Jabiri, Mr Sheck Mfinanga and Faraji Magula.

The prosecution side has two prosecutors, namely Faraji Nchimbi and Paul Kadushi.

Various senior Chadema leaders, including former prime ministers Edward Lowassa and Frederick Sumaye were among those who spent over four hours waiting for the court verdict.

Mr Lema told journalists as he left the High Court grounds that he intends to write about his experience to President Magufuli.

Mr Mbowe, who is the Leader of Official Opposition in Parliament, blamed the police for using excessive force against opposition leaders and “innocent” Chadema supporters.