is why reports of Ntibenda’s eventual dismissal yesterday did not come as much of a surprise. Some Arusha residents even questioned how he escaped President John Magufuli’s axe in last June’s reshuffle of regional and district commissioners.
The Prime Minister’s Office confirmed in a statement yesterday that the president had removed Ntibenda from the post of Arusha RC and replaced him with former Arusha district commissioner Mrisho Gambo with immediate effect.
The news was received with mixed reactions here with several political pundits asserting that Ntibenda’s removal had been delayed. And speculation over the precise reason for his departure remains rife.
According to an official of the RC’s office who preferred to remain anonymous, Ntibenda’s perceived soft spot for the opposition in the region is likely to have been to blame for his unceremonious exit.
“That was his biggest mistake, one that he will regret for the rest of his life. At times he appeared to be quite submissive to the interests of CHADEMA (the country’s main opposition party),” alleged the official.
Ntibenda was often seen mingling with the opposition youth wing in the region, much to the dismay of the ruling CCM party’s own youth wing.
On top of that, the Arusha Urban member of parliament on a CHADEMA ticket, Godbless Lema, yesterday posted a message on one social network about how he personally tried to warn Ntibenda that he was being targeted by the authorities who appointed him.
“I once told the former regional commissioner to be careful because he was being targeted, but he would not heed to my calls…and eventually it has cost him,” wrote the legislator.
Since his appointment to the post of Arusha RC by former president Jakaya Kikwete in December 2014, Ntibenda is said to have helped cool down simmering political tensions that had become the order of the day in the region.
His predecessor as RC, Magesa Mulongo, was frequently at loggerheads with Lema and other opposition stalwarts in a region widely regarded as an opposition stronghold.
But all that ended with the advent of Ntibenda. Now, with the appointment of Gambo as the new RC, political pundits believe the opposition will no longer enjoy the kind of comfortable walk in the park they had under the ex-RC.
“Gambo is a nonsensical character. Lema should now brace himself as this youthful new RC will remind him of Mulongo,” said Moses Adam Swila, chief executive officer of the Friends of East Africa (FEO) organisation.According to Swila, Gambo is likely to stamp his authority in the region, unlike his predecessor.
Speaking earlier this month in front of the deputy minister in the President's Office (regional administration and local government), Suleiman Jaffo, MP Lema accused Gambo (then still Arusha DC) of interfering with his (Lema’s) office.
Gambo had said that as the president’s representative in the district, he had every right to inquire into water shortages in the district.
The DC further rubbed the MP the wrong way when he directed Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau (PCCB) officers in the region to investigate claims of monetary fraud within the district’s wards.
It was alleged that the ward councilors had doubled their daily allowances from 100,000/- to 200,000/- for every project inspection.
“I know there have been some deliberate attempts by Gambo to quash democracy. I have sacrificed myself to fight such injustices,” wrote Lema yesterday.
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