Residents of Singida disappointed by IGP Mwema`s statement

Recent statement by the Inspector General of Police, IGP, Said Mwema that the police could apply excessive force including killing if necessary, in the process of restraining mob actions has sparked heated debate in Singida.

In interviews with residents of Singida following stoning a suspect who was held in police custody to death, many respondents said that the IGP statement is likely to fuel hostility between the police and civilians.

Speaking at a media conference in Dar es Salaam on Monday IGP Mwema warned people against taking law into their own hands, insisting that suspects should be handed over to law enforcers and subsequently to court.

The police chief was referring to two incidents in the recent past where crowds in Kagera and Singida regions invaded police stations causing massive destruction of property and killing of suspect who was under police custody.

In Kagera, more than 300 people stormed Chato district police station to demand release of three people alleged to be murder suspects involved in human skin business. The station was set ablaze, files at DC�s office destroyed and a government vehicle burnt down.

The most recent incident in Singida involved more than 200 emotionally charged people who marched into a police post at Ilongero village, broke into the cell and pulled out the murder suspect, Khalfani Nkindwa-Mile(28) and killed him in front of the police.

He was accused of defiling and strangling to death two children aged 4 and 6 years last week who were out to fetch water from a nearby pond at around 6.30pm. The other suspect was still at large.

Shadrack Magadula, resident of Singida said the police are to blame for the poor past records that forment social disorder as recently witnessed in the neighborhood.

He questioned the rationale to bring back to the same village the suspect arrested in a distant village while knowing that the villagers still harbored fresh memories of the horrific incident that left the entire village devastated.

�They should have taken the suspect to the regional headquarters bearing in mind that the magnitude of the offence committed was grave,� Magadula said.

Another resident, Hawa Makala said the statement by the IGP could not only incite hatred between the police and the public, but could adversely affect people�s attitude towards the role of the police, which is protecting the public and their property.

�I am afraid criminals will also misuse the amnesty pronounced by the government as they would run to police stations for safety after committing crimes believing that they would be set free within no time,� Hawa observed.

She said, on the other hand, the statement could also be misinterpreted by the public that suspects should just be finished off immediately before arrival of police to their rescue.

The Singida Regional Commissioner, Parseko Kone, condemned the killing of the murder suspect insisting that people should leave to the police and court to the arrest and prosecution of suspects instead of killing them.

However, the RC was bitterly disappointed the brutal killing of the children, the incident that sparked a chain of disorder in the area.

He said the regional authorities would visit Ilongero village on Friday to console the bereaved families and talk to the villagers about the urge for respect of the rule of law.

Meanwhile, police in the area are holding six people including the village chairman of Ilongero accused of inciting violence that led to the killing of the murder suspect at the police post.