Tanzanian main opposition Chadema party chairman Freeman Mbowe was arrested in Dar es Salaam on Monday after he failed to honour a police summon. Mr Mbowe had earlier been directed by the Dar es Salaam Special Zone Commander, Mr Simon Sirro, to report to the Central Police Station within 48 hours, as he was wanted for questioning on his alleged links with drug abuse and trade after being named by the Dar es Salaam Regional Commissioner, Mr Paul Makonda.
However, reports from senior Chadema officials established that Mr Mbowe had decided to surrender himself to the police in the afternoon before law enforcers intercepted his car to arrest him.
According to a post on the party’s twitter account, Mbowe has been arrested by police who have been following him as he headed to Central Police Station and was accompanied by party lawyers.
The Citizen journalist at the Central Police Station reported to have seen Mr Mbowe’s car there, though she could not establish whether he came in it or not.
His arrest is the culmination of a week of war of words between the police, Chadema lawyers, and Mr Mbowe himself. The Chadema supremo was named by Mr Makonda along with other prominent people as being involved with narcotic use and trade in the city.
He, however, refuted any such links during a press conference in Dodoma and was very categorical that he would not comply with the police summons.
