Tanzania Human Rights Commission accuses Makonda of power abuse

Dodoma. The Commission for Human Rights and Good Governance (CHRAGG) has determined that Arusha Regional Commissioner (RC), Paul Makonda, is guilty of abusing his power.

This conclusion follows Makonda's directive to arrest and detain an individual for 96 hours without filing any charges.

CHRAGG also said Mr Makonda defied summons to appear before the Commission to table his defence.

CHRAGG is an independent government department established as a national focal point for the promotion and protection of human rights in Tanzania.

Judge (rtd) Mathew Mwaimu, the chairman of the Commission, announced these findings on Friday, July 19, 2024, during the tabling of a report on investigations into human rights violations and governance for the year 2022/23.

In the same period, the commission says it received 135 new complaints, bringing the total to 1,020 complaints under consideration.

Of the total complaints, 236 were concluded, while 784 others remain under investigation.

He said the Commission received complaints against Mr Makonda regarding an order to arrest and detain a resident of Arusha (name not disclosed).

Upon investigation, Judge (rtd) Mwaimu said the commission found Makonda's order to be unlawful, as it failed to follow legal procedures and targeted an individual who was not involved in any substantive claims.

Judge (rtd) Mwaimu emphasised that Mr Makonda had exceeded his authority by making decisions that should have been addressed through the judiciary.

He suggested that even if there were indications of criminal offences, the proper procedure would have been to instruct the police to take the appropriate legal action.

“The commission calls on public officials to strictly adhere to laws and regulations in the execution of their duties. They should consider the importance of due process and refrain from vigilantism,” he said.

Regarding Mr Makonda's refusal to appear before the Commission despite being summoned to provide his defence, Judge (rtd) Mwaimu said such actions do not hinder the commission from fulfilling its mandate of hearing both sides of the story and completing its investigations.

Efforts to reach Makonda for a comment were unsuccessful.

Judge (rtd) Mwaimu also reported that during the 2022/23 period, the Commission received a total of 1,524 complaints.

Of these, 789 cases were concluded, leaving 885 ongoing complaints as of July 1, 2023.

In another development, Judge (rtd) Mwaimu said allegations of cruelty and humiliation that faced a Member of Parliament, Pauline Gekul, CCM, and others, against two young employees could not be substantiated after investigation.

“The Commission scrutinised claims against Gekul, including allegations of inserting a bottle into the youngster’s private parts to extract confessions of food poisoning and placing witchcraft items in her hotel, Paleii Lake View,” he said.

“However, after examining various testimonies and evidence, the Commission did not find evidence to support levelled allegations,” he added.