Chaos at Dar court as rowdy Chadema crowd mob Zitto

A ROWDY crowd, believed to be made up of a section of Chadema members and supporters, caused chaos at the High Court in Dar es Salaam where they booed the party’s former deputy secretary general and Kigoma North Member of Parliament, Mr Zitto Kabwe.

Mr Zitto has sued the Registered Trustees of the party and its Secretary General to challenge disciplinary actions against him that included stripping him of his party membership.

But before the resumption of the proceedings in the court yesterday, they stormed the court premises and started booing at Mr Zitto, hurling insults and accusing him of sabotaging the opposition party and being a puppet of the ruling CCM.

“Oooooh, huyoooooo, fisadi huyo, kibaraka wa CCM,” some of the members were heard shouting while pointing an accusing finger at Mr Zitto.

The situation worsened when the members exchanged blows with a person whom they suspected of being an operative of the intelligence service after suspecting him of recording the event and reporting to someone what was going on at the court premises.

However, Mr Zitto remained calm and appeared composed during the entire drama. He did not even utter a single word in response to the accusations.

Instead, the police around and some people believed to be members of the MP’s security detail whisked him to the safety of the court’s chambers.

The police then forced the crowd move away from the court’s premises as advocate for the party, Mr Tundu Lissu, who is also the Chief Whip of the opposition in Parliament, chipped in and asked Chadema followers to calm down. “Please calm down.

I know you have been saddened by what happened yesterday (Thursday), but just keep cool so that we can attend to what has brought us here. Thereafter, we will see the next cause of action to follow,” he told the members. The situation normalised after the intervention.

After resumption of proceedings, Mr Zitto’s advocate, Mr Albert Msando, requested trial Judge John Utamwa to restrain Chadema’s Central Committee from discussing, deliberating or determining the issue of his membership with the party until his main suit involving the matter is determined.

In the main suit, Mr Zitto is asking the court that the Central Committee of the party and any other subordinate party organ should not deliberate, discuss and or determine the issue of membership until his appeal has been determined by the Governing Council.

He also requests the court that the Secretary General should be ordered to furnish him with the copy of proceedings and information as to the reasons for the decision by the committee so that he could lodge his appeal to the governing council of the party.

Mr Msando told the court that if the injunctive orders would not be granted and the Central Committee continues deliberating Mr Zitto’s membership and subsequently sacked, he would suffer greater hardship than the party, not only for his members of the Constituency but also the nation as a whole.

Countering the arguments by Mr Msando, advocates for the party, Mr Lissu and Peter Kibatala, vehemently opposed the request on grounds that the applicant (Zitto) has failed to advance sufficient reasons to warrant the court to issue the reliefs sought.

They submitted that there was no evidence adduced in court to substantiate that if the Central Committee goes with its meeting, the only option for Mr Zitto was to sack him.

“He may be suspended or warned. Where are the irreparable losses that are being said, nothing,” Mr Lissu submitted. After hearing the parties, Judge Utamwa said he would deliver his ruling on the matter on Monday.

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