Police have called on citizens to abide by the law and put patriotism before party politics to ensure that the October General Election campaigns are conducted peacefully.
Making the call yesterday, said in this way there would be no major tension between the police force and civilians.
She said all Tanzanians who take part in campaigns should put forward patriotism rather than political affiliation that could disturb the prevailing peace in the country.
"We should all work towards protecting our peace. So supporters of various political parties should realize that protection of our status quo as Tanzanians is more important than anything else,” she said.
Bulimba told politicians and party supporters to avoid politically motivated criminal offences. She said the law governing elections does not provide for overzealous political activities that might disrupt peace in the society.
“We urge people to take precautions so that politics does not lead to crime," stressed Bulimba.
She said the police force was well prepared for the entire duration of the General Election campaigns. During and after the election it will deal with anyone who breaks the law regardless of political affiliation in order to protect the country's peace, she said.
Bulimba referred to scuffles that were caused by political affiliation and reported in some parts of the country. She said several people were being questioned for their involvement which might have caused a breach of peace.
"At the moment I cannot say anything with regard to those arrested in several instances of breach of peace. We are still investigating whether criminal offences were committed before arraigning the perpetrators," explained Bulimba.
Meanwhile, Deputy Commissioner of Police Mary Nzuki said the force has taken all precautions to ensure that the campaigns and elections are held peacefully.
She was closing a two-week police training session on human rights and excessive use of force during elections held in Dar es Salaam recently.
The training was organised by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in collaboration with the police force.
Its main purpose was to build the capacity of police officers in their operations, especially during the General Election period.
Conducted by facilitators from the police academy in the UK, the training also targeted to give an insight to police officers on reasonable use of force when necessary. They were also trained on compliance to human rights in the execution of their duties
Commissioner Nzuki said after completing the training the officers were required to share the knowledge with their colleagues. Further, they were to help them have a comprehensive understanding of their performance.
Specifically, they were to respect and protect human rights as well as various police laws and regulations.
The UNDP conducted a similar training for various cadres of professions, including journalists and the judiciary.
The country’s General Election will be held on October 25 for councilors, members of parliament and the president.
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