NA Berensi Alikadi-Bunda

WAFUGAJI wa jamii ya Kitaturu waishio katika Tarafa za Chamliho wilayani Bunda
wamesema kuwa wamechoshwa na vitendo vya manyanyaso wanavyofanyiwa na mwekezaji
wa kampuni ya Grumet.

Wafugaji hao walitoa malalamiko yao hayo juzi kwenye mkutano wa wafugaji hao
katika kijiji cha Maliwanda kwa viongozi wa mashirika matatu yanayojihusisha na
kutetea wafugaji ya Taphgo Shemajawa na Fumuco yenye makao makuu yake katika
mikoa ya Arusha,Dare-salaam.

Wamedai kuwa kwa muda mrefu sasa wamekuwa wakifanyiwa vitendo vibovu na Askari
wa mwekezaji,kampuni ya Grument iliyoko wilayani Serengeti ambayo imemilikishwa
eneo la kawanga ambalo wao walikuwa wakilitumia huko awali kama makazi yao na
malisho yao ya mifugo.

Walivitaja vitendo hivyo kuwa ni pamoja na kuchapwa viboko,kubakwa wakati
wanapoenda kusenya kuni na kutozwa faini kubwa pindi wakamatapo mifugo yao na
kutowapa stakabadhi.

Walisema kuwa pamoja na agizo la serikali alilitoa mwaka jana aliyekuwa waziri
wa mali asili na utalii,Shemsa Mwangunga kuwa wachunge mita mia lakini
mwekezaji huyo amelipuuza na matokea yake asikari wake wamekuwa wakiwanyanyasa
kwa kuwakamata.

”Mimi sifahamu kama huyu mwekezaji na serikali nani ana mamlaka maana kama
waziri mwenye dhamana alikuja hapa na akatuambia kuwa sasa tumeruhusiwa kuchunga
mita mia lakini huyu mwekezaji anatukamata kwakweli tunashangaa sana sijui kama
serikali yetu hii imeshawekwa mfukoni na hawa wazungu”alihoji Mahena Gejera
mkazi wa Maliwanda.

Wafugaji hao walifafanua kuwa askari hao wa mwekezaji wamekuwa wakiwatoza
shilingi laki tano kila wanapokamata mifugo ambapo wamekuwa hawawapi stakabadhi
ya serikali jambo ambalo walihoji kuwa hawafahamu kuwa pesa hizo zinaenda
mikononi mwa mzungu au serikali.

Waliongeza kuwa tayari askari wa mwekezaji huyo wamejenga zizi kubwa eneo hilo
la kawanga na kwamba kila siku lazima wafanye juu chini wakamate mifugo hata
kama inavuka kwenda kunywa maji ili mradi tu wape pesa.

Naye mfugaji mmoja aliyejitambulisha kwa jina la Sancho Masegenya alieleza kuwa
askari hao wanapo wakamata huwauliza kuwa kama wanatoa shilingi milioni moja
basi wataandikiwa stakabadhi na kwamba kama watatoa shilingi laki tano basi hizo
hawatapewa stakabadhi, hivyo kutokana na uelewa mdogo wa wafugaji hao hulazimika
kutoa pesa hizo ili kunusuru mifugo yao.

Kufuatia manyanyaso hayo wafugaji hao wamedai kuwa sasa wamechoshwa na vitendo
hivyo na kwamba sasa wako tayari kwa lolote lile kwani hata wao wanazo silaha za
jadi hivyo hawaogopi hizo bunduki za mwekezaji.

Wamesisitiza kuwa hawawezi kuendelea kuwa watumwa ndani ya nchi yao kwani wao
kama wafugaji mchango wao ni mkubwa sana katika kuinua uchumi wa taifa hili.

Walipotakiwa kutoa ufafanuzi kuhusu tuhuma hizo afisa mmoja wa kampuni hiyo
ambaye hakutaka jina lake liandikwe gazetini alikiri kuwepo kwa taarifa hizo na
akawataka wafugaji hao kutoa taarifa kwa uongozi wa kampuni hiyo pindi mambo
hayo yanapokuwa yanajitokeza.

”Ni kweli malalamiko hayo yapo hata hivi tunapoongea jana kuna watumishi wawili
wamefukuzwa kazi kutokana na mambo hayo na sisi kampuni yetu hairuhusiwi kutoza
watu faini kama hao askari wanafanya hivyo ni makosa tena makubwa.”alisema
afisa huyo.

Naye mwanasheria toka shirika la Taphgo Daud haraka amesema kuwa ni kosa kisheri
kwa askari wa mwekezaji huyo kuwanyanya asa wafugaji hao na kuahidi kulifanyia
kazi suala hilo haraka.

Daudi alisema kuwa nchi hii inaendeshwa kwa misingi ya sheria na kwamba mahakama
pekee ndiyo imepewa mamlaka ya kuhukumu na kutoa haki na wala si vinginevyo
hivyo askari hao wanavunja sheria za nchi kwa kuwabaka akina mama hao wa
Kitaturu na kwamba jambo hilo halitafumbiwa macho.

mwisho

By Ray Naluyaga
Citizen Bureau Chief

While the name Serengeti National Park brings with it imaginations of every conceivable beauty and luxury nature can provide, the opposite is true for villagers surrounding it.

Apart from living in mud and grass thatched with about five meters radius houses, residents of Bonchugu village in Serengeti district have more stories of trauma than joy and happiness one can imagine Serengeti can bring.

Without mention of abject poverty they have to endure everyday, men and women of this village bordering Serengeti National Park end up being beaten or shot to death by police or game wardens in the name of the security of the wild life.

The story which is still in the minds and mouths of villagers there is the beating that led to the death of one Mr Chacha Marara, 35 during police interrogations of the poaching of the rare black Rhino named George.

Narrating the story, his wife Sophia Marara, 22 now a widow with five children said on the fateful night of January 1st about 12 policemen invaded their house at 3am in the morning and dragged her husband together with her two brothers in law out of the house.

“All of a sudden I saw men standing inside our house, when asked they said they were police from Mugumu police station, before we could say anything, my husband was dragged outside the house undressed,” She said.

With tears flowing out of her eyes Sophia said she now has to work as a labourer in other peoples’ farms in order to take care of the children with the oldest being five years old and the youngest called Diana is only nine moths old.

“We have so many problems now following my husband’s death, am not sure if the children will grow,” she said.

Sophia has her other two children attending nursery school and she did not know how she was going to afford a Sh 1000 monthly fee as well as providing for them.

Baru Marara, 25, the younger brother of the deceased told the Citizen which was accompanied by the Tanzania Pastoralists, Hunters and Gatherers Organisation of Arusha that the police did not tell them why they were being arrested.

“The police told us that we will know our offences when we arrive at the police station,” he said and added that they only managed to dress up while being led away by the police.

Also arrested later in the day but before dawn was the Mararas’ uncle Mr Philemon Baru, 61.

Mr Baru said he was dragged out of the house naked together with his other two sons Chacha Marwa, 22 and Mahende Philemoni, 18.

“The police told us that we were being arrested because we have a pending case in court which we have failed to attend, but when I told them that I have not known of any court case against me they didn’t listen but beat us for every word we uttered,” he said.

Mr Baru was later dropped from the police vehicle together with another woman at Rwamchanga village, about 15 kilometres from his house.

According to Baru Marara, at the police station they were locked in different rooms from their deceased brother but they could hear him screaming as the police beat him.

“We had both our hands and legs tied together while the police beat us indiscriminately by using the club,” he said.

While being beaten, the police asked them how did the Rihno die and if they will not say they will be killed just like the Rhino.

That is when I came to learn that we were arrested in connection with the Rhino’s death, he said adding ever since he was born he has never set his eyes on one.
But it was their brother, Chacha Marara who was beaten the most and they could hear him screaming from a room that was next to their cell.

I was allowed to go and feed him with porridge our relatives brought for us on January 2, I found him lying on the floor as if he was dead with blood all over his body, said Chacha Marwa the deceased’s cousin.

He said he tried to feed him but the porridge continued to flow out of the mouth as he groaned with pain. “It was no less than feeding a few months old baby,” he said.

The police decided to take him to DDH Nyerere Memorial hospital where he was pronounced dead in the morning of January 3. They were all released without charge the following day.

Mr Makena Mwikabe, 44, the Bonchugu village Chairman said he was called by the police on January 3 informing him that Chacha Marara the resident of his village died as he jumped from the police vehicle in an attempt to escape from the police something which was not true.

Mwikabe said information that reached him from relatives who were arrested with him, Chacha Marara arrived at the police station alive but later died from police beating.

“We are also aware that he was taken to the hospital already dead and the best hospital staff and doctors could do was to preserve the body at the mortuary,” he said.

Mwikabe said the police requested him to contact with the relatives of the deceased so that they can collect the body. The relatives refused until the post-mortem is conducted to establish the cause of his death.

Mwikabe told the Citizen that the police barred him together with the Sedeko ward councillor Mr Richard Nyakera where the village is located from witnessing the post-mortem.

He said Chacha Marara is the second person to be killed in connection with the death of the Rhino, the first was shot dead during a joint patrol between the Serengeti Game Wardens and the police in search of the people suspected to have been involved in killing the Rhino.

But Mr Baru the deceased uncle who attended the post-mortem said his nephew’s ribs were broken as well as his lungs were out of his chest and already rotten something which he believes was the cause of his death though the report has not been released to them to date.

His uncle described him as a good man who has never been suspected of any wrong doing at the village neither has he ever owned a weapon.

The Serengeti MP Stephen Kebwe confirmed the incident when he spoke to the Citizen at his office in the constituency.

“I have raised the matter with the minister of Home Affairs about the exceeding police brutality here and requested him to look for ways to help the force to execute its duties in accordance to the law and procedures,” he said.

The Mara Region police commander Mr Robert Boaz said his force is investigating the matter and a report will be out soon.

Ends*************************

NA Berensi Alikadi Serengeti.

KATIKA hali isiyokuwa ya kawaida kundi la wanaharakati wanaotetea wafugaji, juzi walijikuta wakibubujikwa na machozi baada ya mama mmoja mjane kuwasimulia jinsi mme wake alivyokamatwa na polisi wa kituo cha Mugumu na kisha kupigwa hadi kuuwa kwa madai kuwa alishiriki kuuwa faru George.

Mjane huyo aliyefahamika kwa jina Sophia Chacha Malala 28 mkazi wa kijiji cha Bonchugu wilayani Serengeti mkoani Mara aliuambia ujumbe wa wanaharakati hao ambao ni kutoka katika mashirika ya Taphigo, Shimajewa na Fumuco yenye makao makuu yake Arusha Serengeti na Mwanza kuwa mme aliyefahamika kwa jina la Chacha Malala 35 alikamatwa na askari polisi tarehe tarehe 1januarymwaka huu.

Alisema kuwa siku hiyo ya tukio yeye na mme wake walikuwa wamelala na kwamba ilipofika majira ya saa 9 usiku walisikia watu wakipiga teke mlango wao na kuingia ndani na alipoamuka aliwaona watu hao wakiwa na bunduki na ndipo walipomkamata mme wake akiwa uchi wa mnyama na kumtoa nje.

Mjane huyo alifafanua kuwa alijaribu kuwauliza kosa la mme wake lakini walikuwa wakali na kumjibu kuwa atakwenda kujua huko kituoni huku wakimpiga kwa kutumia virungu vya polisi.

”Baada ya kumkamata walienda katika vyumba vya wadogo zake na mme wangu ambapo waliwakamata Baru Malala 25,Mwita Malala , Mwita Filimoni Kadogo Mwisi na Hamisi Matiko ambaye ni mwanafunzi wa kidato cha nne katika sekondari ya Manchira ambao kwa pamoja waliwapiga sana kabla ya kuwapeleka katika kituo cha polisi”alisema Sophia.

Alifafanua kuwa siku iliyofuata majira ya saa nane mchana aliwapelekea chakula na alipofika kituoni aliambiwa kuwa mme wake tayari amepigwa sana usiku na askari polisi na kwamba tayari ameshafariki na kwamba tayari polisi wameshapelekwa mwili wake kwa ajili ya kuuhifadhi katika hosptali ya Nyerere DDH. jambo lilimfanya achanganyikiwe na kuanza kulia.

Mjane huyo alidai kuwa kifo cha mme wake kimesababishwa na polisi na kwamba siyo kweli kuwa mme wake alihusika katika mauajia ya faru George ambapo amemuachia watoto wadogo wanne na kwamba hajui atawatunzaje na kuwasomesha kwani yeye ni mama wa nyumbani na mme wake ndiye aliyekuwa akimsaidia.

Akizungumza huku akiwa ameketi kwenye kaburi la mme wake huku akitokwa na machozi akiwa na awatoto wake hao alisema kuwa anaomba wasamalia wema waweze kumchangia chochote ili aweze kuwasomesha watoto wake ambao anaamini kuwa wakisoma wataweza kumsaidia katika maisha yake yabaadaye.

Maelezo hayo ya huzuni aliyotoa mjane huyo yaliwafanya wanaharakati hao kutokwa na machozi ambapo waliamua kumchangia kiasi cha shilingi elfu sabini kwa ajili ya kumsaidia yeye na watoto wake aliachiwa na mme wake.

Mdogo wa marehemu aitwaye Baru Malala ambaye pia alikamatwa klatika sakata hilo alidai kuwa walipofika katika kituo cha polisi walipigwa sana huku wakiulizwa kama wanafahamu juu ya kifo cha faru George jambo ambalo ni tofauti na maelezo ya awali waliyowakamatia kuwa wana kesi mahakamani na wameshindwa kuhudhulia.

Naye mjomba wa marehemu aliyefahamika kwa jina la Filimoni Baru 61 ambaye pia alikamtwa katika tukio hilo alisema kuwa yeye alikamtwa na watoto wake wadogo watatu Chcha Filimoni 28,Mahende Filimoni 22. na kwamba siku hiyo ya tukio majira ya saa kumi polisi zaidi ya kumi walifika nyumbani kwake na kubisha hodi na kwamba alipofungua alikamtwa yeye na vijana wake hao na kisha kufungwa pingu na kuwapeleka nyumbani kwa marehemu Chacha Malala ambapo walikuta naye ameshakamtwa pamoja na wadogo zake.

”Walipotufikisha hapo kwa mpwa wangu walipiga simu na ndipo yalikuja magari mawili na kutuchukuwa na nilipojaribu kuuliza niliambiwa kuwa tuna kesi mahakamani tumeshindwa kuhudhuria ndio maana tunakamatwa huku tukipigwa kwa mateke na magumi” alisema Filimoni kwa masikitiko.

Aliongeza kuwa walipofika katika kijiji jirani cha Rwamchanga yeye walimshusha na kumuacha hapo huku wenzake wakiondoka nao na kwamba siku ilifuata alipata taarifa kuwa mpwa wake yaani Chacha Malala amepigwa sana na polisi na amefia mikononi mwa polisi.

Filimoni alisema kuwa alikwenda katika hosptali teule ya wilaya hiyo na kwamba dakitari alipomfanyia uchunguzi alikuta mwili wake ukiwa na michubuko ya kwamba bandama lilikuwa limechanikwa hali iliyodaiwa kuwa ilisababishwa na kipigo kikari.Jambo linalodhihirisha kuwa marehemu alipigwa sana na polisi kabla ya kupoteza uhai wake.

Alipotakiwa kuthibitisha juu ya kifo cha mwananchi huyo mganga mkuu wa hosptali hiyo Dr Samweli Kito alisema kuwa mwananchi huyo alifia mikononi mwa polisi na kwamba wao waliletewa tu kwa ajili ya kuhifadhi na kwamba mwili wake ulifaniwa uchunguzi na mganga mkuu wa wilaya ambaye alikuwa amesafiri nje kikazi.

Mbunge wa jimbo hilo Dr Stivin Kebwe alipohojiwa juu ya tukio hilo alikiri kuwa nim kweli mtu huyo aliuwawa na polisi na kwamba suala hilo linfahamika na kwamba kwa hivi sasa hawezi kulitolea maelezo kwa kuwa linafanyiwa kazi na kamati ya ulinzi na usalama ya wilaya ingawaje aliahidi kulifuatilia kwa karibu ili kujuwa hatima ya waliofanya kitendo hicho.

Nao viongozi wa mashirika hayo wakiongozwa na mwansheria wa Taphigo, Daudi Haraka wamesema kuwa kuwa wamesononeshwa sana na kitendo hicho cha kinyama kilichofanywa na askari polisi dhidi ya familia hizo mbili na kwamba watahakikisha haki ya huyo mjane inapatikana.

Walisema kuwa kitendo cha polisi kukamata watu wakiwa uchi wa mnyama tena psipo kuwa na viongozi wa eneo husika na kuwapiga kisha kuuwa mmoja wao hakiwezi kuvuliwa na jamii ya watanzania hasa wao kama wanaharakati wanaotetea wafugaji.

”Kwakweli huu ni uhuni na unyama hao polisi wamekosa maadili na wamekuwa wakikiuka miiko ya kazi yao na hii siyo mara ya kwanza hivi karibuni kuna walipiga mwanafunzi na kuuwa kisa ameiba kuku na polisi aliyefanya hivyo sasa hivi amehamishwa sasa hili kwakweli hatuwezi kulivumilia” walisema wanaharakati hao na kuongeza kuwa mahakama pekee ndicho chombo cha kutoa maamuzi na wala siyo polisi kujichukulia sheria mkononi.

Alipotakiwa kutoa ufafanuzi wa kifo hicho kamanda wa polisi wa mkoa wa Mara Boazi Robert alikiri kuwepo kwa kifo cha mtu huyo na kudai kuwa uchunguzi wa suala hilo uko katika hatua za mwisho hivyo hawezi kulitolea maelezo zaidi.

”Ni kweli taarifa hizo zipo ingawaje ni tofauti na unavyonileza mimi maana ninchofahamu ni kuwa mtu huyo aliruka kwenye gari wakati wakisafirishwa na uchunguzi unaendelea jarada liko kwa mwanasheria ikibainika ni polisi walifanya hivyo basi atashitakiwa” alisema kamanda Boazi.

MWISHO