Kikwete declares all-out war against drug abuse in Tanzania

Young Tanzanian men smoke marijuana using pipes. President Kikwete is pulling out all the stops in the fight against drug abuse and drug trafficking in the country, which has seen even clerics being arrested over the vice. Photo by Kiwi Explorer 

Tanzania’s President Jakaya Kikwete said yesterday the government would do all in its power to ensure that the war on drug trafficking and abuse is won. “ Drug abuse and trafficking is a big problem that calls for the support of all, including religious leaders,” he told the Idd-ul-Fitr Baraza in Dodoma.

He said religious leaders and organisations should not blame the government following recent revelations that some clerics had been arrested in connection with drug trafficking. “The task ahead is very challenging and calls for the participation of all, including religious leaders,” the President said.

He said the National Task Force Against Drug Trafficking that he formed in 2006 was doing a commendable job in arresting people behind the vice. President Kikwete said the taskforce drew its members from the Tanzania Intelligence and Security Service (TISS), Police Force, Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA), Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau (PCCB) and Drugs Control Commission operating under the Prime Minister’s Office.

“The taskforce has arrested clerics. We have arrested Sheikhs. We have arrested clerics’ children,” he said in response to the message by the National Muslim Council (Bakwata). Reading out the message, Bakwata spokesman Suleiman Lolila said the council was troubled by government reports that some Bakwata leaders had been arrested in connection with drug trafficking. Mr Lolila called on the government to make public the names of Islamic religious leaders who had been implicated in drug trafficking.

“If one wants the names of the clerics, one should go to courts of law where they have been charged. There is no secrecy in courts, and their names can be obtained there. “In making sure that we win the war on drugs, let’s not start pointing accusing fingers at one another,” President Kikwete said, adding that the time would come when even churches and mosques would be subjected to searches. He said traffickers were now using unsuspecting religious leaders to ferry drugs across borders.

“I will be the last person to wrongly accuse religious leaders. Clerics should be more vigilant than ever before as the crusade against drug trafficking is gaining momentum,” he said.
He recalled the recent seminar for MPs in Dodoma, organised by the National Task Force Against Drug Trafficking, saying the lawmakers were shocked when the magnitude of the problem dawned on them.

“Some MPs suggested the death penalty for drug traffickers. This shows how serious the problem is…there is no going back this time.”

By Monitor Team  (email the author) 

Posted  Friday, September 2  2011 at  00:27