Marando blames govt for Friday demos, says bail was a right.

A leader of Chama cha Democrasia na Maendeleo Chadema) Mabere Marando stresses a point a he talks to journalists in Dar es Salaam yesterday during a news conference on the arrest of Muslim leaders who landed in court over the weekend.

The sporadic chaos that has been going on in the country recently has pushed the leading opposition party, CHADEMA to urge the government to take precautionary measures in order to preserve public peace and stability, by working with Muslims organizations to avoid unnecessary alienation which can disrupt public harmony.

CHADEMA legal advisor Mabere Marando made this appeal at a press conference yesterday on the running violence on Friday pitting supporters of remanded preacher Sheikh Ponda Issa Ponda and security forces, as well as the brief disappearance of Isles anti-Union preacher Sheikh Amir Farid in Zanzibar.

Marando said that public unrest and demonstrations threaten national unity and arise from unsolved queries and irresponsibility of government officials to end disputes prevailing for a long time in the Muslim community.

He declared that outpouring of Muslim anger arose from cumulative provocations and failure of the government to act decisively to resolve matters from the beginning of the crisis, worsened by moving in an unnecessary show of force over the demonstration on bailing the remanded preacher.

For a long time Muslims have been filing complaints to the government but the issues are not properly addressed by the government, so the government has been irresponsible and failed to pursue the issues diligently,” the advocate maintained.

He said the law has not taken its course and the government has failed to privilege human rights, since Sheikh Ponda has a rights like any accused to be granted bail. The reason given by the government as to the absence of a particular judge was frivolous, he asserted, noting that another judge could have handled the matter as in this case the government has no right to refuse to grant bail.

“Sheikh Ponda has the right to be granted bail, and absence of the Judge is irrational,” he said, noting further that to look at the issue of bail in a special way is to inflame the issue, with foreseeable consequences.

He even suggested that some well placed Muslims in the ruling party were out to cause chaos in the name of religion and often charges that Chadema was identified with Christianity so as to cause disputes in the society.

He accused President Jakaya Kikwete of supporting these due to his silence and failure to react upon claims made by some CCM members, insisting that the government is running the country in the interests of the ruling party in order to remain in power.

Speaking on the brief disappearance of Sheikh Farid, the advocate said the government should be held responsible for intentional act of detention and injustice against the preacher, espousingthe view that law enforcement agencies were unreliable in explaining the disappearance of Sheikh Farid, which shows that it was a conspiracy conducted by the government.

“It beats the wits out of everyone that one Sheikh Farid, the self styled leader of Uamsho could disappear into oblivion just like that. What happens if an ordinary citizen disappears? It’s very disappointing that our government controlled by CCM kidnaps our people,” the vocal opposition legal pundit intoned.

Meanwhile Professor Abdallah Safari, another Chadema advocate, criticised adverse actions by the police ostensibly to maintain peace and security, saying that police officers do not have to take provocative actions toward innocent citizens who were not part of the demonstration.

“Involving the Tanzania People’s Defense Forces (TPDF) to control and maintain chaos was an overreaction. Does this mean police officers had failed to control the situation?” he demanded.

Prof. Safari condemned all use of force to monitor the situation as that amounts to an injustice to the people. The likely breach of peace had been detected early and therefore the government should have take diligent measures to settle the contended issues in the interests of peace and security in the country, he added.