Maurice Makamba
Tanzania’s Member of Parliament has survived an assassination attempt from unknown gunmen in Manyara’s Kiteto District.
The CCM politician Christopher Ole Sendeka,(Simanjiro, CCM) and his driver came under fire when unknown assailants shot at their vehicle multiple times in an apparent assassination attempt.
Describing the harrowing ordeal, Ole Sendeka explained,”there was a car following us from behind; we slowed down to let them pass on the right side. When they were right next to us, they started shooting at the driver, and then they drove ahead and began shooting at us from the front. We made a turn, and I fired some shots in the air to scare them before we managed to turn and leave,” recounted Ole Sendeka.
Despite the attackers wielding both large and small firearms, neither Ole Sendeka nor his driver sustained injuries. However, their vehicle bore the brunt of the gunfire, displaying several visible bullet holes.
Uncertain of the motive behind the attack, Ole Sendeka expressed, “I cannot definitively state why I was targeted at this time. Identifying the perpetrators in such circumstances is also a challenging task.”
Following the incident, both Ole Sendeka and his driver were interrogated by the authorities.
This marks the second assassination attempt on a Tanzanian politician in nearly eight years, with opposition member Tundu Lissu surviving a politically motivated attack in 2017 where he was shot 16 times and underwent nearly 20 surgeries.
In a statement released today, Police said they have sent a team of ballistic experts to investigate the case.
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“Immediately after receiving the report of the incident, Police started an investigation. A team of ballistic experts from the head office Dodoma was sent to investigate the incident together with the Manyara Police,” reads part of the statement.
Ole Sendeka who is one of the ruling party (CCM) career politicians, is known as a fierce defender of the Maasai.
He has been vocal in some of the Maasai’s recent struggles with the government in Manyara, Ngorongoro, and Loliondo on turning some of the lands into game reserves, seizing livestock, or removal of the Maasai from their ancestral land.
