Mzalendo_Mwandamizi
JF-Expert Member
- Dec 12, 2007
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22APR 2018
THE GUARDIAN REPORTER
NEWS
Guardian On Sunday
Deputy spy chief axed amid calls for reform of TISS
SHAKE UP- The hitherto second-highest ranking officer in the country’s intelligence agency is removed from its Dar es Salaam headquarters and deployed to an upcountry region to serve as a Regional Administrative Secretary
PRESIDENT John Magufuli has removed the second-highest ranking intelligence officer from the headquarters of the Tanzania Intelligence and Security Services (TISS)
in Dar es Salaam and transferred him to an upcountry region where he will now serve in the relatively lower-ranking position of regional administrative secretary (RAS).
The mini, but significant, shake-up comes amid renewed calls from some members of parliament for urgent reform of the country’s intelligence agency to re-define its role.
A brief statement issued by State House on Friday said President Magufuli has appointed Robert Msalika Makungu as the new RAS for Tabora Region.
Msalika takes over from Dr Thea Ntara, who is retiring from public service, and will subsequently report to Tabora Regional Commissioner Aggrey Mwanry.
The appointment takes immediate effect but the new Tabora RAS will be sworn in by the president at a later date, according to State House.
The three-paragraph statement from the president’s office interestingly omitted to mention that prior to being transferred to Tabora, Msalika served in the powerful position of Deputy Director General of TISS responsible for overseeing mainland Tanzania operations of the spy agency (internal security).
Msalika was appointed by Magufuli as deputy spy chief on 24 August 2016 -- the same day Dr Modestus Kipilimba was named Director General of TISS for a five-year term.
This means that he served as Kipilimba’s Number 2 at the TISS headquarters in Dar es Salaam for a little less than two years before being removed from the position and transferred to Tabora.
Msalika once served as an intelligence officer in Tabora Region before being sent to Tanzania’s High Commission in Ethiopia.
He was subsequently recalled back home and handed the big promotion by Magufuli in 2016 as deputy spy chief, only to now be reassigned to Tabora as a RAS.
No reason was given by the president’s office for the top leadership changes made in the country’s intelligence service.
However, the changes come amid fresh calls from some MPs for the government to overhaul TISS.
Lawmakers have advised the government to amend the Tanzania Intelligence and Security Service Act of 1996 to give TISS broader powers to enable it to focus on economic intelligence, while others want the spy agency granted more autonomy to avoid it being used for political purposes.
Former cabinet minister Nape Nnauye (CCM), Hussein Bashe (CCM) and opposition lawmakers ZittoKabwe (ACT-Wazalendo) and Peter Msigwa (CHADEMA) are among MPs that earlier this year called for reform of TISS in parliament.
Zittoissued a statement in February this year questioning the role of TISS amid a series of acts of violent attacks on opposition leaders, including last year’s attempted assassination of opposition MP TunduLissu, and yet-unsolved disappearances of individuals.
Zitto specifically mentioned Msalika and Kipilimba by name in his statement in February this year and said acts of abductions of individuals cannot take place without the knowledge of the deputy director general for internal security (DDGIS).
“These acts (of abductions) cannot take place without the knowledge/authorisation of the director general of TISS or the director of operations -- positions that are currently being held by Kipilimba and Robert Msalika respectively,” he claimed.
Calls for reform of TISS were first raised at the height of the 2010 general election when the opposition CHADEMA party accused the intelligence community of political meddling to sway the presidential poll results in favour of the ruling CCM party.
The then TISS deputy director general, Jack Zoka, convened a rare press conference by the intelligence agency in 2010 and denied allegations by CHADEMA’s presidential candidate, Dr Wilbrod Slaa, that the intelligence agency was being used to rig the election to ensure CCM’s presidential candidate Jakaya Kikwete won the poll.
Zoka has since retired from TISS, while Dr Slaa was in November last year appointed by Magufuli as Tanzania’s high commissioner to Sweden.
The Minister of State in the President’s Office (Good Governance), George Mkuchika, was last week forced to explain to MPs the role of TISS following a string of questions from lawmakers.
According to the TISS Act, the spy agency is by law not allowed to enforce security measures nor“institute surveillance of any person or category of persons byreason only of his or their involvement in lawful protest, or dissentin respect of any matter affecting the constitution, the laws orthe government of Tanzania.”
Some opposition leaders have in the past claimed that they were being subjected to constant surveillance by the country’s intelligence agency and accused it of infiltrating their parties and sabotaging their plans to remove CCM from power.
The stated functions of TISS, according to the law, include to “obtain, correlateand evaluate intelligence relevant to securityand to communicate any such intelligence to the minister (responsible for intelligence) and topersons whom, and in the manner which, the Director-Generalconsiders it to be in the interests of security.”
The spy agency is tasked with advising cabinet ministers on security matters related to government departments under their portfolios.
TISS is also charged with informing the President “and any other person or authority … of any new area of potential espionage,sabotage, terrorism or subversion” against Tanzania
THE GUARDIAN REPORTER
NEWS
Guardian On Sunday
Deputy spy chief axed amid calls for reform of TISS
SHAKE UP- The hitherto second-highest ranking officer in the country’s intelligence agency is removed from its Dar es Salaam headquarters and deployed to an upcountry region to serve as a Regional Administrative Secretary
PRESIDENT John Magufuli has removed the second-highest ranking intelligence officer from the headquarters of the Tanzania Intelligence and Security Services (TISS)
in Dar es Salaam and transferred him to an upcountry region where he will now serve in the relatively lower-ranking position of regional administrative secretary (RAS).
The mini, but significant, shake-up comes amid renewed calls from some members of parliament for urgent reform of the country’s intelligence agency to re-define its role.
A brief statement issued by State House on Friday said President Magufuli has appointed Robert Msalika Makungu as the new RAS for Tabora Region.
Msalika takes over from Dr Thea Ntara, who is retiring from public service, and will subsequently report to Tabora Regional Commissioner Aggrey Mwanry.
The appointment takes immediate effect but the new Tabora RAS will be sworn in by the president at a later date, according to State House.
The three-paragraph statement from the president’s office interestingly omitted to mention that prior to being transferred to Tabora, Msalika served in the powerful position of Deputy Director General of TISS responsible for overseeing mainland Tanzania operations of the spy agency (internal security).
Msalika was appointed by Magufuli as deputy spy chief on 24 August 2016 -- the same day Dr Modestus Kipilimba was named Director General of TISS for a five-year term.
This means that he served as Kipilimba’s Number 2 at the TISS headquarters in Dar es Salaam for a little less than two years before being removed from the position and transferred to Tabora.
Msalika once served as an intelligence officer in Tabora Region before being sent to Tanzania’s High Commission in Ethiopia.
He was subsequently recalled back home and handed the big promotion by Magufuli in 2016 as deputy spy chief, only to now be reassigned to Tabora as a RAS.
No reason was given by the president’s office for the top leadership changes made in the country’s intelligence service.
However, the changes come amid fresh calls from some MPs for the government to overhaul TISS.
Lawmakers have advised the government to amend the Tanzania Intelligence and Security Service Act of 1996 to give TISS broader powers to enable it to focus on economic intelligence, while others want the spy agency granted more autonomy to avoid it being used for political purposes.
Former cabinet minister Nape Nnauye (CCM), Hussein Bashe (CCM) and opposition lawmakers ZittoKabwe (ACT-Wazalendo) and Peter Msigwa (CHADEMA) are among MPs that earlier this year called for reform of TISS in parliament.
Zittoissued a statement in February this year questioning the role of TISS amid a series of acts of violent attacks on opposition leaders, including last year’s attempted assassination of opposition MP TunduLissu, and yet-unsolved disappearances of individuals.
Zitto specifically mentioned Msalika and Kipilimba by name in his statement in February this year and said acts of abductions of individuals cannot take place without the knowledge of the deputy director general for internal security (DDGIS).
“These acts (of abductions) cannot take place without the knowledge/authorisation of the director general of TISS or the director of operations -- positions that are currently being held by Kipilimba and Robert Msalika respectively,” he claimed.
Calls for reform of TISS were first raised at the height of the 2010 general election when the opposition CHADEMA party accused the intelligence community of political meddling to sway the presidential poll results in favour of the ruling CCM party.
The then TISS deputy director general, Jack Zoka, convened a rare press conference by the intelligence agency in 2010 and denied allegations by CHADEMA’s presidential candidate, Dr Wilbrod Slaa, that the intelligence agency was being used to rig the election to ensure CCM’s presidential candidate Jakaya Kikwete won the poll.
Zoka has since retired from TISS, while Dr Slaa was in November last year appointed by Magufuli as Tanzania’s high commissioner to Sweden.
The Minister of State in the President’s Office (Good Governance), George Mkuchika, was last week forced to explain to MPs the role of TISS following a string of questions from lawmakers.
According to the TISS Act, the spy agency is by law not allowed to enforce security measures nor“institute surveillance of any person or category of persons byreason only of his or their involvement in lawful protest, or dissentin respect of any matter affecting the constitution, the laws orthe government of Tanzania.”
Some opposition leaders have in the past claimed that they were being subjected to constant surveillance by the country’s intelligence agency and accused it of infiltrating their parties and sabotaging their plans to remove CCM from power.
The stated functions of TISS, according to the law, include to “obtain, correlateand evaluate intelligence relevant to securityand to communicate any such intelligence to the minister (responsible for intelligence) and topersons whom, and in the manner which, the Director-Generalconsiders it to be in the interests of security.”
The spy agency is tasked with advising cabinet ministers on security matters related to government departments under their portfolios.
TISS is also charged with informing the President “and any other person or authority … of any new area of potential espionage,sabotage, terrorism or subversion” against Tanzania
