Law of the Jungle still in Tanzania

  Time to clip mob justice madness, preserve lives LAW OF THE JUNGLE. . . . Cases of the public taking the law into their own hands are on the increase despite the presence of a sound judiciary system. A REPORT carried by our sister paper, ‘HabariLeo,’ sent shocking waves within the country, to say the least. A mere misunderstanding by two lovers ended tragically when one of them was butchered by a mob after his partner called for help accusing him of being a thief. A woman, whose name is still to be established who visited her lover, a businessman in Magazini suburb, Mpanda town in Katavi Region, identified as Florence Mabuga (29). But, when the man was now accompanying the lady from his home, a misunderstanding ensured, resulting in the woman shouting for help, alleging that the man standing beside her was a thief. A group of people came to the “rescue” of the lady armed with crude weapons. When Mabuga saw that the mob was charging towards him, he tried to run into his house for safety but they caught up with him before he could get in. According to the Katavi Regional Police Commander, Dhahiri Kidavashari, no one has been arrested as the group disappeared after killing the man. Incidents like these, where the public take the law into their own hands remain a thorn in the flesh for the administration of justice in this country as many innocent people are killed without being given the chance to clear their names. It is a common trend in this country that whenever a thief is caught, the public rushes in to mete instant justice. This has seen many people getting lynched and in some cases these people will be innocent. Killing a person even if he is guilty is not a solution as this denies him his right to life and to prove his innocence. While marking the International Human Rights Day last year, the Legal and Human Rights Centre (LHRC), revealed that 673 people had been killed through mob justice in the country, the previous year, and thus denying them their right to live. The LHRC Executive Director, Dr Hellen Kijo- Bisimba, expressed concern that some citizens were continuing to take the law into their own hands by punishing suspected offenders of various crimes and thus creating confusion in the society. She noted that incidences of mob justice have kept on escalating each year, particularly in major cities and towns. According to her, there were only 40 cases of mob justice in 2005 which have however maintained an upward trend; most of the victims being suspected thieves. On the other hand, the LHRC boss said murder cases on people suspected to be engaged in witchcraft have also been on the rise, recording 579 deaths in 2010 and 600 in the year 2011. “Likewise, some 52 people were killed under police custody in 2010 while 28 others were killed in 2011. In the year 2005 and 2006, about 36 and 37 people were killed by the cops,” she alleged. It is a shame that such incidents continue to occur unabated, despite the country having proper and sound legal channels that can be explored. It is high time awareness campaigns are put in place to educate the public that they should give the law a chance because meting instant justice proves that they don’t have confidence with the country’s laws. Though the mob will be trying to take the opportunity to deter would be thieves, they should leave everything to the law enforcement agents to do their job. They should also know that criminals have rights too hence they should not be denied their right to live. It is unfortunate that whenever a problem arises, the general public is quick to take the law into their own hands and they become both police officers and courts. In other words, they arrest the person and sentence him to death buy stoning, beating or setting the poor guy ablaze. Incidents of mobs invading and burning police posts are also on the increase and they present a time bomb of which if not curbed will cultivate a culture that will end up tarnishing the country’s image. This behaviour has to be nipped in the bud before it becomes a norm that thieves and everyone believed to be on the wrong side of the law is lynched without being given the chance to prove his or her innocence. The hapless old ladies and men are butchered in rural areas being suspected of being witches simply because their eyes are red. What baffles one’s mind is that mobs act, not only in a barbaric manner but also like savages as they don’t give the accused person the chance to explain his or her side of the story. In the Mpanda case, the mob could have, if they had given the guy the chance to explain his case, found out that he was not a thief but his lover was setting him up. It wasn’t even going to be surprising that some of the suspects knew the victim and had they put their thoughts and dug the root of the whole saga, they could have discovered that the person who was being accused of stealing was a respected businessman in the area. It is a shame that people tend to lose their senses when they join these mobs to an extent that their blinkers are aimed at killing the person and not serving justice. The country still has a long way to go in kicking this social anomaly out. More stringent measures are needed if ever the dream of curbing the problem has to be entertained. There is need for unity of purpose where each and every person plays his or her role to make sure that this problem is nipped in the bud or else this country is likely to be reduced to a situation where the general public becomes a law unto themselves. All those involved in killing people during these mob justices should be brought to book and be charged with first degree murder to deter those would be killers. The reason they continue killing people in such a way is because in most cases the members of the mob are not apprehended and left to walk scot free as they are described as “wananchi wenye hasira kali” of which when translated means an angry mob. Bringing them to book will go a long way in alleviating the problem and they will learn to control their anger. We cannot continue to watch as the country is being dragged into the mud by people who kill other people wantonly. This madness has to be stopped before it’s too late. We should respect the sanctity of life and make this country a good place to stay for everyone. Share/Bookmark Daily News Poll click to expand contents  Copyright © 2013 DailyNews Mobile Edition. All Rights Reserved. Designed by Richard Kazimoto Mobile Version | Standard Version