Fracas ensued yesterday at Karimjee Hall involving bitter verbal exchanges between Chama cha Demokrasia na Maendeleo (Chadema) na Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) delegates after a scheduled Dar es Salaam mayoral election was suddenly put off indefinitely by City Council Deputy Director Sara Yohana.
Police had to be called in to restore calm, during which a number of delegates to the election were arrested, and managed to remove Sara Yohana and chairman of the election from the venue under tight security.
According to the city council acting director, the sudden postponement was prompted by a received court injunction said to have been issued earlier before the delegates entered the polling venue.
After the meeting was opened, the acting director then announced adjournment of the election ostensibly to obey the court order.
The injunction letter was also glued on the hall door outside and it partly read, “This court hereby orders that an interim order is hereby granted that election of the mayor and deputy mayor of Dar es Salaam City Council is hereby suspended pending hearing and determination of an application filed by the applicants”.
According to the injunction order letter, it was issued by the court on February 5, 2016.
According to the letter, the application was filed at the Kisutu Resident Magistrates’ Court and the first applicant is Susan Ernest Massawe while the second is Saad Mohamed Khimji.
“We have met here today for the purpose of electing a city mayoral, but this morning I have received a court injunction order which orders suspension of the election. However, it does not specify the expiry date, but it will be valid for six months,” Yohana said.
This is when pandemonium broke loose, with some delegates angrily confronting her while others walked out of the meeting venue.
While others walk out, some remained in and started shouting demanding the chairperson of the election, Theresia Mmbando, acting director of Dar es Salaam City Council Sara Yohana and some officials to remain seated and continue with the election process. This, however, didn’t bear any fruit.
Inside the hall, mayhem took over as Theresia Mmbando (who is also the Dar es Salaam Regional Administrative Secretary -RAS) attempted to move from the high table to join other delegates outside, she was given hard time by members of the Coalition of People’s Constitution (UKAWA) who were utterly opposed to move to postpone the election.
As the verbal exchanges got hotter the police beefed up security to protect Theresia before Ilala Regional Police Commander arrived at 11.12am with extra police officers who took her out under tight security, leaving UKAWA followers yelling and cursing at the police.
Ilala RPC Lucas Mkondya kindly asked the remained people in the hall to quit claimed that what assembled them there were over, but they rejected and denied to leave because they wanted to have a meeting, and RPC didn’t continue bothering them and leave with his officials instead, left UKAWA members continue with meetings.
Commenting on what happened, Chadema Deputy Secretary General Salum Mwalimu said the court order was not meant to suspend yesterday’s election but was rather isued to suspend the election which was scheduled to take place on February 8, this year.
“This is not acceptable and not tolerable; we will go to court on Monday (tomorrow) to seek for clarification on the legality of the court injunction… “ he said.
He accused police for defending and protecting deputy director and chairman of election instead of supervising peoples’ democracy.
The election was schedule for January 23, this year but was postponed to be conducted on February 08, this year.
On January 24, this year, this paper reported that the opposition MPs and councilors of Ilala and Kinondoni Municipalities thronged the polling booth at Karimjee grounds en-masse yesterday, amid speculations that their rivaling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) challengers were conspiring to take them for a ride following an abrupt indefinite suspension of the Dar es Salaam mayoral elections.
Chama cha Demokrasia na Maendeleo (Chadema) and Civic United Front (CUF) delegates camped at the polling station as news broke out that the City Council acting director Philip Mwakyusa had indefinitely postponed the elections without giving further details.
The council had earlier set January 23 as the elections date, but the CCM aligned acting director announced postponement on Friday, prompting the opposition into smelling a rat in the election saga.
Elaborating, he said on Thursday the Kinondoni Municipal Director, Aron Kagurumjuli, wrote a letter to the mayor of the Council, with reference number KMU / .21 / VOL.1 / 2016/01, informing him to have received a list of 11 MPs from CCM who had been certified by the National Electoral Commission (NEC).
The letter was meant to inform the mayor about the names which had been delayed in the first council meeting.
Yet he said in their letter dated January 15, CCM wrote to the Municipal Director (Kinondoni) CW / KN / .25 / 15 / Vol.2 / 81 nominating 13 names of MPs and councilors, some of whom came from Zanzibar.
Police had to be called in to restore calm, during which a number of delegates to the election were arrested, and managed to remove Sara Yohana and chairman of the election from the venue under tight security.
According to the city council acting director, the sudden postponement was prompted by a received court injunction said to have been issued earlier before the delegates entered the polling venue.
After the meeting was opened, the acting director then announced adjournment of the election ostensibly to obey the court order.
The injunction letter was also glued on the hall door outside and it partly read, “This court hereby orders that an interim order is hereby granted that election of the mayor and deputy mayor of Dar es Salaam City Council is hereby suspended pending hearing and determination of an application filed by the applicants”.
According to the injunction order letter, it was issued by the court on February 5, 2016.
According to the letter, the application was filed at the Kisutu Resident Magistrates’ Court and the first applicant is Susan Ernest Massawe while the second is Saad Mohamed Khimji.
“We have met here today for the purpose of electing a city mayoral, but this morning I have received a court injunction order which orders suspension of the election. However, it does not specify the expiry date, but it will be valid for six months,” Yohana said.
This is when pandemonium broke loose, with some delegates angrily confronting her while others walked out of the meeting venue.
While others walk out, some remained in and started shouting demanding the chairperson of the election, Theresia Mmbando, acting director of Dar es Salaam City Council Sara Yohana and some officials to remain seated and continue with the election process. This, however, didn’t bear any fruit.
Inside the hall, mayhem took over as Theresia Mmbando (who is also the Dar es Salaam Regional Administrative Secretary -RAS) attempted to move from the high table to join other delegates outside, she was given hard time by members of the Coalition of People’s Constitution (UKAWA) who were utterly opposed to move to postpone the election.
As the verbal exchanges got hotter the police beefed up security to protect Theresia before Ilala Regional Police Commander arrived at 11.12am with extra police officers who took her out under tight security, leaving UKAWA followers yelling and cursing at the police.
Ilala RPC Lucas Mkondya kindly asked the remained people in the hall to quit claimed that what assembled them there were over, but they rejected and denied to leave because they wanted to have a meeting, and RPC didn’t continue bothering them and leave with his officials instead, left UKAWA members continue with meetings.
Commenting on what happened, Chadema Deputy Secretary General Salum Mwalimu said the court order was not meant to suspend yesterday’s election but was rather isued to suspend the election which was scheduled to take place on February 8, this year.
“This is not acceptable and not tolerable; we will go to court on Monday (tomorrow) to seek for clarification on the legality of the court injunction… “ he said.
He accused police for defending and protecting deputy director and chairman of election instead of supervising peoples’ democracy.
The election was schedule for January 23, this year but was postponed to be conducted on February 08, this year.
On January 24, this year, this paper reported that the opposition MPs and councilors of Ilala and Kinondoni Municipalities thronged the polling booth at Karimjee grounds en-masse yesterday, amid speculations that their rivaling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) challengers were conspiring to take them for a ride following an abrupt indefinite suspension of the Dar es Salaam mayoral elections.
Chama cha Demokrasia na Maendeleo (Chadema) and Civic United Front (CUF) delegates camped at the polling station as news broke out that the City Council acting director Philip Mwakyusa had indefinitely postponed the elections without giving further details.
The council had earlier set January 23 as the elections date, but the CCM aligned acting director announced postponement on Friday, prompting the opposition into smelling a rat in the election saga.
Elaborating, he said on Thursday the Kinondoni Municipal Director, Aron Kagurumjuli, wrote a letter to the mayor of the Council, with reference number KMU / .21 / VOL.1 / 2016/01, informing him to have received a list of 11 MPs from CCM who had been certified by the National Electoral Commission (NEC).
The letter was meant to inform the mayor about the names which had been delayed in the first council meeting.
Yet he said in their letter dated January 15, CCM wrote to the Municipal Director (Kinondoni) CW / KN / .25 / 15 / Vol.2 / 81 nominating 13 names of MPs and councilors, some of whom came from Zanzibar.
SOURCE: GUARDIAN ON SUNDAY
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