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Several other legislators also contributed to debate on the matter, saying the killings had tarnished Tanzania’s image to the extent that the country was now considered insensitive to human rights or incapable of guaranteeing the safety of some of its people.
Others recommended that court proceedings be accelerated and convicts be punished without delay since those who had their loved ones so brutally killed had begun questioning the government’s capacity to deal with serious crime.
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Story courtesy of The Guardian newspaper Tanzania
The government has vowed to “smoke out of their hideouts” all people suspected of murdering, maiming, intimidating or harassing albinos for whatever reason.
It has also announced that it will do all that is in power to “sever once and for all the alliance between these evil-minded people and the witchdoctors misleading them into committing the crimes”.
The promise comes from Home Affairs deputy minister Khamis Kagasheki, who told the National Assembly here yesterday that nine of the 90 albino killer suspects currently in custody are traditional healers.
Responding to a question by Special Seat legislator Maria Hewa, who demanded clarification from the government on the number of people arrested so far in connection with albino killings, Kagasheki said police had taken “aggressive measures” and held a number of suspects.
“Between June 2007 and March 2009, a total of 90 suspects had already been put in custody and brought to justice,” he said.
He added: “Investigations are continuing on 17 cases in the Lake Victoria zone, nine cases are pending in the High Court, two have already been decided and seven accused have been convicted and sentenced to death in Shinyanga Region. Four accused were found guilty as recently as Monday this week and sentenced to death.”
In a supplementary question, the legislator called on the government to make sure that all suspected albino killers were taken “to where they belong (custody) alongside their acquaintances pretending to be traditional healers”.
Several other legislators also contributed to debate on the matter, saying the killings had tarnished Tanzania’s image to the extent that the country was now considered insensitive to human rights or incapable of guaranteeing the safety of some of its people.
Others recommended that court proceedings be accelerated and convicts be punished without delay since those who had their loved ones so brutally killed had begun questioning the government’s capacity to deal with serious crime.
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