Tanzania Police unveils shocking incidents of homicides

Dar es Salaam. The Tanzania Police Force has disclosed two incidents of homicides and one incident of ritual killings that have occurred in the Singida, Dar es Salaam, and Tanga regions.

The revelations come merely two days after the main opposition political party, Chadema, urgently called for a judicial inquiry to address the escalating cases of missing persons and abductions across the nation.

In the report released publicly on Saturday, August 24, 2024, and signed by spokesperson David Misime, the Police Force reported that the first incident occurred in Chalunyangu Village, Singida District.

It involved the mysterious disappearance of Samwaja Sifael Said, 22, who went missing on August 8, 2024.

“On August 23, 2024, his body was found buried in a ditch, with private parts missing,” reads part of the report.

Mr Misime said three people have been arrested in connection with the incident, namely Selemani Shabani Nyandalu Hango, 24; a resident of Chalunyangu; Saidi Haji Msaghaa Mangu, 24, a resident of Migungu Village; and a witch doctor, Kamba Kasubi, 34, a resident of Migungu Mtinko.

The report states that the two suspects confessed to committing the offence after being informed by a witchdoctor that they would become wealthy if they obtained human genitalia.

“The incident was reported at Makuro Police Station. A comprehensive police force follow-up revealed that after a football, as they were returning home, they met two people who convinced the deceased to go for alcohol consumption,” reads part of the notice.

The police report says during the interrogation, the suspects confirmed to have killed the deceased after alcohol consumption, tore off his private parts, and covered the body in a ditch.

In the second incident, Abdallah Miraji Mussa, 42, a resident of Sinza in Dar es Salaam, has been arrested on suspicion of killing his girlfriend, Ezenia Stanley Kamana, 36, who lived in Tandika Maghorofani.

Kamana was reported missing on August 19, 2024.

The police report further indicates that on August 22, 2024, authorities were alerted to the presence of bags, commonly referred to as viroba, found in the Silversands Area on Freedom Street in Kunduchi.

These bags were believed to contain human body parts.

“When police took the four bags and subjected them to investigations, they found that the parts belonged to human beings. They included one thigh, arms, chest, buttock, intestines, and clothes,” reads the police report.

“The suspect confessed to the crime, revealing that he had killed his girlfriend, dismembered her body, and disposed of the remains at various locations,” the report adds.

On August 23, 2024, the report says the suspect took police officers to Tegeta Block D, where he had thrown the deceased’s legs and head.

In a third incident, the report says, Jackson Elisante Maenda, 23, a resident of the Kwedijava Area in Tanga Region, has been arrested by police allegedly for killing a child, Elia Elifaza Raymond Mchome, 3.

The report says the child was playing outside their home, and the suspect admitted to having buried the body in his bedroom.

“After his arrest and interrogation, the suspect initially claimed that the baby had been taken by his mother, who had travelled to Babati in the Manyara Region. He later accompanied police officers to Babati, but then changed his statement, saying that the baby was actually buried inside his room at the village they had just left,” the notice states.

The police report reveals that in connection with the incident, other people have been arrested and are being questioned.