Police Arrest 10 Businessmen Suspected Of Killing 14 Children For Rituals

The Speaker of the Tanzanian National Assembly, Job Ndugai, on Monday said that Tanzanian police have arrested 10 businessmen in connection with the recent killing of 10 children in the country.

Ndugai said the men were arrested in Njombe and Makambako towns.

The Speaker announced the arrest as four more children were reportedly killed in Njombe region over the weekend, bringing to 14 the number of children killed in the region over superstitious beliefs.

Ndugai appealed to the government to present in the National Assembly a detailed report on what was going on in Njombe region and on measures taken to contain the situation.

“Security organs must team up to end the brutal killings of innocent children. The government should table its report in the House by the end of this week,” the speaker said.

Ndugai added that such grisly incidences had tarnished the country’s image.

Joram Hongoli, a Member of Parliament for Lupembe Constituency, said the situation in Njombe region had been tense and that businesses were at a standstill over fears.

Parents have stopped working to escort their children to and from school, he said.

The legislator warned that failure to address the problem would result in the killing of many more people as residents have started attacking people they suspected to be involved in killing the children.

“Two people have been allegedly killed by angry mobs in Ludewa and Waning’ombe areas,” said Hongoli, adding that several others have been attacked and injured after they were suspected to be the killers of the children.

Jenista Mhagama, the Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office responsible for policy, parliamentary affairs, labour, employment, youths and the disabled, said the government needed more time “to come up with a detailed report of what have been done so far.”

Last week, Minister for Home Affairs, Kangi Lugola, associated the killings of children in Njombe with superstitious beliefs.

He said security organs had identified some of the people involved in the killings and that they would soon be arraigned.

Similarly, Tanzanian lawmakers on Monday appealed to the government to allow the Tanzania Ports Authority (TPA) to retain 40 per cent of its annual collections for improvement of other strategic harbours in the country.

Members of the Parliamentary Committee for Infrastructure said the government should allow the TPA to retain 40 per cent of its 117 million dollars annual collection to improve efficiency of Dar es Salaam, Mtwara, Kigoma and Kalema ports.

“Almost all TPA collections are remitted to government coffers, leaving the ports authorities without funds for its ports improvement, said Moshi Kakoso, Chairman of the Committee.

He was presenting in the National Assembly the committees’ activity report for January 2018 to January 2019.

Kakoso said Dar es Salaam port had a number of challenges that affected its performance including inadequate capacity to handle big vessels.

Dar es Salaam and Tanga ports required deep berths to enable big ships to dock,” Kakoso told the House in the capital, Dodoma.

“Most of the infrastructures at our ports are dilapidated.

“We can hardly compete with Mozambique’s Beira port, Durban port of South Africa and Mombasa port in Kenya,” he said, adding that there was also need to improve roads to the ports.