Local security organs are competent enough, but should sharpen skills

After the killing incident, anguish, apprehension and uncertainty gripped a section of the community. Uneasiness gained ground with reference to abduction reports such that legislators brought the matter up for discussion in the ongoing Bunges session.

On Thursday, Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa informed legislators that, the nation’s own security organs were quite capable of handling any inquiry without depending on foreign assistance. However, the premier made a special appeal to the general public to exercise patience as the authorities continued to do the needful.

The premier was responding to a proposal by the opposition leader in parliament who recommended the involvement of international detectives to help 'uproot’ the seeds of lawlessness as attested in recent incidents of reported kidnaps.

The legislator cited two incidents that created more questions than answers. One was the brutal killing of eight police officers in Rufiji district in Coast region and, secondly, the October 2016 abduction of one opposition leader whose whereabouts were still a mystery.

The lawmaker believed that foreign investigators in collaboration with their local counterparts could do a better job on investigation to establish the whole truth and finally bring to justice all the suspects behind the scam.

The fact that the matter was brought up for deliberation is a good sign that issues of national interests are cross-cutting beyond the ideological divide. Any unnecessary loss of life is unacceptable and the appeal by the prime minister on concerted efforts cannot be overstated.

We strongly support the premier call for the people to trust the ability of our national security organs. These are well trained and certainly capable of conducting any investigation to its logical conclusion.

However, the competence must be exhibited by the identification of ‘the black ship of the family,’ otherwise the public might be tempted to cast doubt on their ability in dealing with issues within their own reach.

Surely, the findings of any investigation could take time before being released to the public. At any rate, we would not expect to have definitive answers to all the questions surrounding the recent incidents related to the gunning down of the eight policemen and other reported cases of abduction.

There is no doubt that the general public is making reference to past incidents that led to the loss of life of innocent police officersand civilians.

There have been repeated raids on police posts, the killing of local government leaders in Coast region, the murder of albinos and the elderly for witchcraft beliefs, especially in the lake zone region among others. Elimination of such a situation is a continuous process as society itself is not static but rather dynamic.

Mwalimu Julius Nyerere in one of his speeches once said peace does not only imply absence of war. The statement implied that even in what appears to be a peaceful atmosphere there might be some underground negative forces inclined to ruin the community. One of those could be social frictions which are not addressed at the right time.

We believe that the lasting solution to the challenges facing our society will come from extended horizon of thinking and professional execution of duties. Every single law-abiding citizen must be informed that security is a collective responsibility instead of leaving the job wholly to national security organs.

Nonetheless, they too (security organs) have a serious obligation in undertaking their job. Perpetual investigation and rational decisions is the permanent motto. Detectives in close coordination with local informers are expected to prevent crime before it happens.

The application of probing techniques will make a difference in this aspect. Detectives must refuse to appear to be active only after a shocking crime has been committed.

We believe our security organs are competent enough, but they could do with some sharpening of their skills by picking a leaf or two from their international counterparts. As the saying goes, ‘people learn from each other as iron sharpens iron’.