Probe report on Tundu Lissu attack ‘not ready’
Saturday September 16 2017
Tanzania’s Parliamentary Defence and Security Committee on Friday failed to present a report on the attack on Chadema Chief Whip Tundu Lissu.
The team led by Adadi Rajab said they did not have enough time to compile and table the report.
The outspoken Singida East MP was shot near his Dodoma residence, and is being treated in Nairobi.
Mr Rajab said the committee had limited time to finalise the report and present it to the House.
House Speaker Job Ndugai had directed that the committee with other security organs probe the matter and present its report last Friday for debate in parliament.
Sources in Dodoma told The EastAfrican that the committee needed more time to discuss the report before presenting it in parliament.
“The matter has caused uproar and there are some people who believe that it was politically motivated, bearing in mind that Mr Lissu is an outspoken opposition politician. It may not be the right time to discuss the findings now,” a source told The EastAfrican.
Last week, Nzega MP Hussein Bashe asked the Speaker to form a special task force to probe the shooting of the MP but the Speaker directed the Defence and Security Committee to take up the matter.
The government has also formed a separate task force to investigate the rising cases of gun attacks with a view to redressing insecurity.
READ: Chadema sec-gen questioned on Lissu attack
Mr Lissu who is also the president of Tanganyika Law Society is facing several sedition charges for referring to President John Magufuli as a dictator.
His election to TLS encountered spirited opposition from the government which accused the organisation of partisanship.
He has been a critic of President Magufuli’s administration crackdown on opposition that has seen a ban on political rallies across the country.
There have been reports in Nairobi that Mr Lissu is in critical condition but Chadema chairman Freeman Mbowe dispelled the fears, saying the MP is in stable condition.
“Any media reports claiming that Mr Lissu’s condition has worsened after developing a chest complication are false and baseless. He is in critical but stable condition, and generally on the road to recovery,” said Mr Mbowe.
READ: Shot Tanzanian MP in critical, stable condition
ALSO READ: Appeal to raise $50,000 for Lissu's treatment in US
He told the media the politician was now able to speak, eat some food and even receive a number of visitors under strict supervision by the team of doctors who are overseeing his treatment.