ARUSHA: Lema defiant as he is released on bail

By Zephania Ubwani, The Citizen Bureau Chief.

Arusha Urban MP Godbless Lema has defiantly said he will fight against constant harassment by government authorities after he was released on bail following charges of incitement levelled at him in court.

Mr Lema, who is not a stranger to courts of law, was arrested Thursday night for allegedly inciting students at the Institute of Accountancy Arusha (IAA) on Wednesday, last week, when he met them during a gathering. The students went on the rampage following the mysterious killing of their colleague.

Mr Lema also battled to retain his seat for about nine months after the High Court nullified his election on April 5, 2012, following his victory in the 2010 General Election. The court’s decision was on the basis that Mr Lema’s campaign rallies, which were held between August 20 and October 30, 2010, involved abusive language against his ruling party opponent, Dr Batilda Burian, which contravened election laws, rules and regulations.

He then proceeded to the appellate court which, last December, reinstated him as Arusha Urban MP after quashing the High Court’s ruling on the grounds that the three CCM members who went to court to nullify Lema’s victory had no locus standi to petition the High Court to challenge the election. Ms Burian is now Tanzania’s high commissioner to Kenya.

Since then Mr Lema has been in constant friction with law enforcement organs, which he accuses of being used by Arusha authorities to harass him.

Yesterday Mr Lema told hundreds of his followers, who marched from the Arusha Resident Magistrate’s Court to Chadema offices, west of the town, that he would never bow to intimidation by the regional authorities.

Reading the charges against the MP yesterday, Prosecutor Elianenyi Njiro told the packed Arusha Resident Magistrate’s Court that the legislator incited college students who then disrupted Arusha Regional Commissioner Magesa Mulongo’s meeting at the college.

The prosecutor said Mr Lema also allegedly uttered negative remarks directed at Mr Mulongo who had rushed to the area following reported tension at the campus after the unexplained killing. Mr Lema, who was addressing the shocked students when the RC arrived, allegedly described the regional administrator as not concerned with the death of the student given the manner he reached the campus as if he was in a ‘send off’ convoy. Other remarks the Arusha Urban MP (Chadema) reportedly uttered include that Mr Mulongo behaved as if he did not know where the IAA was located and apparently failed to sympathise with the grieving student community.

“Mr Lema did incite the students of the Institute of Accountancy Arusha to commit the offence by uttering these words which caused breach of peace,” Ms Njiro told the court after the MP was brought in from remand prison.

The legislator, who has been in constant trouble with government authorities since his election in October 2010, is defended by a prominent advocate in Arusha Method Kimomogoro and was released on Sh1 million bond with one surety.

He pleaded ‘not guilty’. Resident Magistrate Devotha Msoffe adjourned the case to May 29, this year, when it will come up for mention.

Hundreds of Chadema supporters turned up at the Court premises from early in the morning prompting anti-riot police in full gear to be deployed around the area in anticipation of trouble. Mr Lema, clad in his usual khaki combats, the trademark for Chadema party, was brought into the Court at around 9.30 am in heavy police escort.

Joyous pandemonium reigned in the area after he emerged from the courtroom about an hour later. He was escorted from the court premises by cheering supporters who marched for about three kilometres to the Chadema offices.

Chadema supporters carrying placards denouncing the RC marched along the major roads in the heart of Arusha and were only metres from the regional government office block with the police looking on. No ugly incidents were reported.

Mr Lema was arrested at his Njiro residence early on Friday and has since been held at the central police station.

The Police are yet to arrest any suspect linked with the killing of 22-year-old First Year student Henry Koga at the institute at 10 pm on April 23.

There is growing concern here that the authorities were more concerned with Lema than the unexplained death of the student which has shocked many in Arusha.

Fourteen students were arrested alongside the MP for allegedly heckling and pelting the RC and his entourage. The institute, which is under the ministry of Finance, has been closed indefinitely.

Source: The Citizen (29/04/2013): http://www.thecitizen.co.tz/news/-/30982-lema-defiant-as-he-is-released-on-bail