He vowed to ‘leave no stone unturned’ in the fight against narcotics, declaring a relentless war on government officials, including those who last year facilitated the importation of 21,000 tons of precursor chemicals used in the manufacture of drugs.
On his first public appearance since he was sworn-in by President John Magufuli on Sunday, the DCEA boss ordered the authority’s Commissioner for Operations Mihayo Msikhela to prepare the list of the distrustful members of the judiciary for submission to the Chief Justice.
“There should be checks and balances in the running of the government, we have on record judges and magistrates who release suspects caught red-handed with narcotics,” he charged, at a meeting that the Dar es Salaam Regional Commissioner (RC) organised in the city yesterday.
He fumed; “There was one person who was arrested with 50 kilogrammes and another one with 180 pellets of drugs, but they were all released by courts in mysterious circumstances.”In a related development, Mr Sianga directed his deputy, Mr Msikhela, to investigate and take actions against the officials who aided the importation of 21,000 tones of the precursor chemicals.
The plain-speaking Sianga summoned for questioning a Dar es Salaam resident he identified as Ayoub Mfaume Kiboko, in relation to dealings in the illicit substances. “I will keep on the tempo initiated by President Magufuli and RC Makonda in the crackdown ... no one is above the law,” he said.
He said the clampdown will be extended to all regions in Tanzania Mainland and Zanzibar to book all people aiding and abetting dealings in narcotics. The DCEA chief was confident of winning the war against drugs, thanks to the Drug Enforcement and Control Act of 2015 that empowers the authority to arrest suspects, seize property and proceeds obtained from the illegal trade.
“The authority will deal with drugs from three aspects - the supply and demand of drugs as well as harm reduction for those already affected by drugs ... we should not stay aside in this fight; it is our war and no one is safe if we allow drug kingpins to continue this business.
Drugs have social, health and economic effects on the population, particularly the youth,” he stated. Commissioner Msikhela confirmed that his office had finalised the list of judges and magistrates who have been thwarting efforts by the law enforcement agencies to bring to justice the netted suspects.
Mr Msikhela who was until recently the Commander of Police Anti-Drugs Unit blasted some heads of public health facilities for diverting prescribed medicines to the market.
“They acquire the prescribed medicines from the Medical Stores Department (MSD) and sell them to the market where they end up being abused,” he charged
.The authority’s Commissioner for Intelligence Fredrick Kibuta called on members of the public to provide information about people they suspect to deal in the illicit trade to enable the law enforcement agencies to act.
Earlier, the Chairman of the Council of Religious Leaders Against Drugs who is also Chief Sheikh of Dar es Salaam, Alhaj Alhaad Musa and Bishop George Fupe of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Tanzania (ELCT), rallied their support behind the government, urging leaders to act without fear or favour.
The Chairman of CCM in Dar es Salaam Region, Mr Ramadhani Madabida, urged the government to act tough on the illicit trade as stipulated by the ruling party manifesto spanning between 2015 and 2020.
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