Stop killings of the elderly now, don’t take solace in drop of statist

The latest information by the police in the area that the spate had diminished by 33 per cent through collective efforts among pro-life stakeholders is quite impressive but should not be considered a reason for gratification or contentment.

We all know that any attempt to deny people the right to live is to challenge their very humanity altogether.

The political will shown by the current administration needs to be sustained to guarantee safety to elders, those with albinism, women and children as some are reportedly living under constant fear of extermination.

However, serious refection and assessment of years of indecisive measures by the authority that unfortunately worsened the situation for failure to restrain the mess, is equally important to avoid potential relapse.

For decades, hundreds of elders were subjected to cold-blooded murder that could obviously be prevented. Social research scientists for example, have established that ignorance punctuated by tales of traditional healers in the area was the main factor behind such merciless killings of innocent elders.

In some cases, families have degenerated to acrimony after suspicious deaths. Since no time taken to establish the medical cause of death, elders became the immediate suspects and subsequently the victims.

But death occurs in different communities but alders are not accused of being the causative as such. Continuous community health education is absolutely necessary to stamp out misconception that advanced unnecessary hostility.

Official records indicate that between 1970s and 1980s, the time the nation seriously embarked on adult education, such shameful incidents declined significantly.

Through adult education classes people learnt about conditions likely to lead to sickness or death. Poor ventilation for example might lead to meningitis, drinking contaminated water may cause diarrhoea or untreated symptoms of malaria may cause death.

Community health officers did a wonderful job. But that was the past. It is important that all suspects behind atrocious crime including traditional healers and ‘the hired killers’ among others must be brought to justice.

The declared 33 per cent is still minimal and the room for improvement is largely desired. The truth of the matter is that authorities must tighten grip to make sure that such killings come to an end.

There is no way we can continue counting on the reduced percentage of the crime that tarnished the image of the country to the extent of calling for both national and international intervention.

The line of weakness that perhaps allowed this to continue uninterrupted for years must be addressed adequately taking into account that violation of human rights by a few unruly individuals would cause harm to the entire fabric of the society. An ancient wise man said ‘The beginning of our destruction started the day we began destroying ancient wisdom’.

Certainly, elders are wise and have contributed a lot to the formation of this nation and existence of this community. In this regard, they don’t deserve this kind of treatment because life is the right no one should be deprived of.

Human rights by definition include the rights of all humans, those in the dawn of life, the dusk of life or the shadows of life. It is not a privilege granted by a few individuals but a liberty entitled to all.

We believe that sustainable measures to control the situation that include deployment of secret agents to gather information on the ground will be applied particularly in all trouble spots. Tanzania must remain a comfortable and peaceful country of choice to live in.