The Citizen (Dar es Salaam)
24 May 2011
editorial
There is palpable tension in Tarime District over the funerals of the victims of police killings at a local mine. This latest incident has further soured relations between the local community, on the one hand, and security personnel and North Mara Gold Mine, on the other.
The victims were shot dead over a week ago, but the conflict has been further widened with the involvement of the national officials of an opposition party, who have joined the bereaved families in the protests.The men had allegedly invaded the mine. If this was, indeed, the case, it will not be surprising, as it would not be the first time villagers have raided the mine, which they accuse of taking over an area where they had been carrying out their small-scale mining.
Grieving relatives and other locals are demanding that the government carry out a thorough investigation into the killings. They particularly would like the reasons for the alleged invasion of the mine laid bare. The investigation, they demand, should also look into the use of deadly force against the villagers. Were the killings accidental or did the police shoot to kill? They want to know.
The authorities need to get to the bottom of the matter. Again, it is no secret that there is bad blood between the foreign-owned mine and the community that surrounds it, hence the need for an independent investigation into the killings. It is also crucial that the matter is free of any political interference.
We live in a society that guarantees individual or companies’ right to own property and freely carry out their transactions. If the villagers have any grievances about the acquisition of the site, there are proper channels through which they can seek redress. There has been talk that the villagers feel they didn’t get adequate compensation for their land. However, this cannot be a justification for looting private property.
The terms of reference of the investigating team should be widened to include recommendations on how to improve relations between the foreign firm and the community to end the simmering problem.It would be wise, therefore, for the politicians, whose presence appears to be fuelling the conflict, to let the matter be amicably resolved.
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