LOCAL and foreign stakeholders including the United States Embassy in Dar es Salaam are calling for an independent, transparent and prompt investigation into ongoing abductions and the murder of opposition cadre Ali Mohamed Kibao.

A statement by the embassy issued yesterday pointed at “murder and disappearances, as well as last month’s detentions, beatings and other efforts to disenfranchise citizens ahead of elections,” insisting that these should have no place in a democracy.

“These brutal acts undermine rights guaranteed by the Tanzanian Constitution,” the brief statement intoned, whereas at the Tanzania Editors' Forum (TEF), chairman

Deodatus Balile appealed to President Samia Suluhu Hassan to form a judicial commission to investigate the wave of abductions and murders.

They began with individual cases and the trend has now escalated, he said, noting that at first it was children who were being abducted and now it is adults being abducted from public transport and murdered.

The Home Affairs ministry needs to review its role amidst these serious allegations and to disclose the names of those conducting the investigations, he said.

Businessman Rostam Aziz, once a departmental head at CCM headquarters, also condemned the recent surge in violence, including abductions, torture and the tragic liquidation of the opposition cadre.

Meanwhile the government pledged to conduct thorough investigation into the Ally Kibao abduction and murder, to bring all those involved to justice.

Home Affairs minister Hamad Yusuph Masauni issued this intention at Kibao’s burial at Sahare, on the outskirts of Tanga city, expressing the government’s acute concern over the incident.

An investigation report will also address concerns on rampant insecurity in the country, in the wake of the opposition cadre being taken off public transport by armed individuals at Kibo Complex in Tegeta, north of Dar es Salaam on the evening of September 6.

He was travelling to his home in Sahare aboard a Tashrif bus, and on Saturday morning his body was discovered at Ununio area, Kunduchi suburb in Kinondoni District. His body showed severe injuries including facial wounds, reports said.

In the wake of the minister’s speech at the burial ceremony, calls for his resignation have followed, with Chadema chairman Freeman Mbowe urging President Samia to set up a judicial commission to investigate ongoing incidents of abduction, torture and murder.

Masauni made an effort to assure the mourners that the government would not let the matter go unattended, underlining that the president's directives were already being worked upon, “with actions being taken against those identified.”

“We are deeply saddened by this event; it should never have happened, especially in our country where we have always prided ourselves on security and peace compared to neighbouring nations,” he said, urging members of the public to come up with information about the perpetrators, thus assisting in their identification and prosecution.

The Christian Council of Tanzania (CCT) strongly condemned the killing of the party official, stressing that abductions and murders must end, as they are damaging the fabric of society.

Archbishop Fredrick Shoo of the northern diocese of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania (ELCT) and CCT chairman expressed deep concern over the killings.