PRESIDENT John Magufuli yesterday added weight to the ongoing crackdown on narcotics with an order to security organs to detain suspected dabblers until they help unearth the entire cartel.
Speaking at the swearing-in ceremony of the new Chief of Defence Forces (CDF) at State House in Dar es Salaam, the president told law enforcers not to take sides in dealing with individuals believed to be involved in the use, possession or sale of illegal drugs.
“In the fight against drug use there is no room for favours based on public position or social popularity. It doesn’t matter whose child is involved... even if it is my wife Janeth, just arrest her and let the law to take its course,” he said.
Magufuli’s blunt remarks signal a bleak future for suspects already being held in police custody since last week, including local music and movie celebrities, on the orders of Dar es Salaam regional commissioner Paul Makonda.
RC Makonda on Thursday named several prominent entertainment figures and at least 12 senior police officers, and linked them to alleged involvement in illicit drug-dealing.
A day later, Inspector General of Police (IGP) Ernest Mangu announced the suspension of the police officers to allow for a full-scale investigation into the allegations.
Among notable entertainment figures who were summoned by RC Makonda to voluntarily report to the Central Police Station for further questioning were former Miss Tanzania pageant winner and Bongo movie actress Wema Sepetu, and upcoming Bongo Flava songstress Vanessa Mdee.
Magufuli asserted that it is high time the narcotics trade kingpins and ring leaders are brought to book, and also queried why cases that involve illegal drugs usually take so long to be heard.
He suggested that IGP Mangu had been contacted by some socially powerful and influential people with ‘advice’ on issues related to the anti-narcotics war, but the police chief did not listen to them.
Stressing that the war on drugs is not Makonda’s alone to fight, the president pressed upon security organs to give the RC as much support as required, saying:
“Arrest drug users both small and big ... and they will tell you who supplies them with the drugs ... and the suppliers will also let us know where they get their stock from...who delivers it to them.”
Meanwhile, Magufuli hailed the outgoing CDF, General Davis Mwamunyange, for a job well done in his decade as head of the Tanzania People’s Defence Forces (TPDF).
“Tanzanians will miss you especially for the respect that you have brought to this country,” the president told Mwamunyange as he formally swore in the new CDF, General Venance Mabeyo, at State House yesterday.
The ceremony was also attended by various senior government officials including Zanzibar president Ali Mohammed Shein and Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa, as well as the heads of other key security organs.
Gen. Mwamunyange was appointed as CDF by then president Jakaya Kikwete in 2006, and has now retired having served in TPDF for 45 years.
The new CDF, General Mabeyo, was the TPDF chief of staff before his latest elevation.
Speaking of the government’s stated industrialisation agenda, President Magufuli said he believed the army was in a position to spearhead its implementation.
“There are armies in Africa which are doing very well to the extent of manufacturing their own weapons, and I know there is a contract that TPDF was supposed to sign with a certain country, but it is stuck in the attorney general’s office,” he said.
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