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| Saturday, 14 July 2012 11:42 |
By Mkinga Mkinga The Citizen Reporter Dar es Salaam. Police interrogated Chadema Secretary General Willibrod Slaa and former Arusha Urban MP Godbless Lema yesterday in connection with claims that the secret service was plotting to eliminate them and other party leaders. The two declined to record statements, however. They were widely reported in the media last week saying that the Tanzania Intelligence and Security Services (TISS) were part of a conspiracy to finish them. On Sunday, the party accused TISS of working round the clock to intimidate its leaders and render the party ineffective. The two, along with party chairman Freeman Mbowe, vowed on Tuesday not to cooperate after Home Affairs minister Emmanuel Nchimbi ordered police to quiz them. Speaking outside police headquarters after a two-hour meeting with detectives, Dr Slaa told reporters that they refused to record statements and would instead present the investigators with a video tape of the press conference where the allegations were made. Dr Slaa and Mr Lema were summoned yesterday morning and heeded the call despite saying earlier that they would not cooperate with the agents. Mr Mbowe named the deputy director general, Mr Jack Zoka, as the man coordinating the so-called campaign to intimidate the partys leaders. Mr Zoka has dismissed the allegations as sheer nonsense. Dr Slaa said the meeting, which senior police officers and other Chadema officials attended, was tense. It ended with the politicians turning down a request to record statements. We came here to honour the police summons but, after a long meeting, we agreed not to record any statement, Dr Slaa said. That remains our position on this matter. Scores of Chadema supporters thronged police headquarters, anxious to know the fate of their leaders. They started gathering soon after word spread that their leaders were with the police. The police spokesperson, Assistant Superintendent of Police Advera Senso, thanked the Chadema leaders for responding to the invitation. We thank them for coming since it is only they who can substantiate the allegations, Ms Senso said. They are crucial to establishing the truth. She added that they would forward the case to the director of public prosecutions when they were done with their investigations. A top police officer called Dr Slaa on Monday seeking an appointment but the Chadema leader turned down the request. We will never go to police headquarters for interrogation, he declared. Perhaps they should come and arrest us. The police were responding to a government order to interrogate the party leaders who claimed to have received death threats from top officials of TISS. But Dr Slaa said his party had lost faith in TISS after it failed to act on cases it had reported earlier. He cited an incident where one of Chademas MPs was reportedly attacked by CCM supporters in Mwanza. We have already given information to the public on how we were hunted to be killed we provided names of those who planned the attack, he went on. Why cant the government first interrogate those people? Chademas Central Committee met on Monday and discussed the security of party leaders but resolved that they would not cooperate with the police. |
