TANZANIA: Five charged with murder of RPC

By Frederick Katulanda, The Citizen Correspondent

Mwanza, Tanzania. 

Five out of ten people arrested in connection with the killing of the Mwanza Regional Police Commander, Mr Barlow, yesterday appeared at the Mwanza Resident Magistrate’s Court to answer murder charges.

The five,  who appeared in a heavily guarded courtroom, were arrested in Dar es Salaam a few days after he was shot at Kitangiri.

Filed as criminal case number 30, all five were charged with murder contrary to Sections 196 and 197 of the penal code (Cap, 16 R.E 2002).

 Public prosecutor Castus Ndamgoba told Mwanza Senior Resident Magistrate Angelo Rumisha that on October 13 at Kitangiri –Minazi Mitatu Michael Peter Muganyizi, 36, Chacha Wekena Mwita, 50, Mwita Marwa Magige, 48, Edward Ruseta Buganzi, 22, and Mwara Mwita Boke jointly and together murdered Liberatus Barlow.

The accused were brought to court in the afternoon under an escort of ten heavily armed police, a scenario that barred the public from seeing them.  

The accused were whisked away after the magistrate postponed the case to November 15 at the same venue.

Earlier yesterday, the police had paraded seven people suspected to have taken part in the killing of RPC Barlow, six said to have been recognised by eyewitnesses.

The RPC died on the spot at Kitangiri in Mwanza after people dressed as auxiliary policemen shot him at close range on October 13. 

Mwanza acting Regional Police Commander Lillian Matola and Director of Criminal Investigations (DCI) Robert Manumba confirmed that six people were recognised by eyewitnesses out of the seven paraded.

The identification exercise also involved Dorothy Moses who was with RPC Barlow at the spot and a resident who bought a cellular phone from one of the suspects. They testified  the involvement of the suspects in one way or another in the killing. “We paraded five suspects who were arrested in Dar es Salaam and Mwanza. One of them was arrested after being found with Dorothy’s mobile phone which the killers confiscated after killing the RPC,” said the police source.

DCI Manumba admitted that the exercise was conducted, but promised that a detailed report would be released by the acting RPC soon.

But acting RPC Matola said it was too early to release the report, promising to make it available after going through several issues.

Source: The Citizen (31/10/2012): http://www.thecitizen.co.tz/news/4-national-news/26932-five-charged-with-murder-of-rpc