The Citizen (Dar es Salaam)
Paulina David
14 November 2009
Residents of Sengerema District, Mwanza Region, have lynched four anglers allegedly found using a poisonous chemical known as thionex for fishing in Lake Victoria.
The anglers, who were also caught with banned slot-size nets at Kashea village in the district on Wednesday morning, threatened to kill local guards during interrogations.
Mwanza acting regional police commander Elias Kalinga named the slain anglers, all from Geita District in the region, as Magono Butuba, 35, Mgeta Butuba, 28, Merumba Mahagani, 35, and Mtoka Mchele, 47.
They had travelled to the lakeside village aboard two canoes laden with the chemical and the prohibited slot-size nets to use in fishing, Mr Kalinga explained.
Local guards patrolling the lake suddenly emerged as the illegal anglers poured the poisonous chemical into the lake to kill fish.
The anglers drew out cutlasses when the guards were interrogating them, prompting the latter to cry for help. "Residents from the surrounding area gathered at the lake shore and started assaulting them," he said.
Using traditional weapons they hacked the illegal anglers to death and set their bodies on fire.
Until yesterday no one was arrested in connection with the mob justice, Mr Kalinga said.
He explained that several boxes of the poisonous chemical and the prohibited slot size nets were sent to a police post.
The acting RPC said an angler called Mr Daniel Kabika, 34, had in another incident, drowned while fishing on the lake last Sunday.
It was raining cats and dogs when his fishing boat was hit by a storm and submerged at around 2.00p.m. at Kasamwa village in Geita District, Mr Kalinga said. He added that the angler's body had already been recovered from the lake.
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