THE police have showered praises on Tanzanians for the peaceful observation of Christmas and Boxing Day, revealing that the holiday was celebrated successful across the country minus any incidence of violence.
Peace and harmony prevailed throughout the country as Christians celebrated the born of Jesus Christ, regional police bosses confirmed on Thursday.
This means that message relayed throughout the country by clerics, which called for Tanzanians to love each other and live in peace during the celebrations, was well received and implemented.
In telephone interviews with the Regional Police Commanders (RPCs) of Arusha, Mbeya, Mtwara, Rukwa, Kinondoni, Ruvuma and Coast Region attributed the peaceful situation to the cooperation of wananchi and intensified police patrols.
“I deeply thank residents of Arusha for ensuring peace prevailed throughout the celebrations as we had no criminal cases or any chaos related to the celebrations; there was peace all around,” said Arusha RPC Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Jonathan Shana.
ACP Shana said the situation that prevailed in Arusha was not attributed to police and operations by security organs, but rather, the people’s own understanding of the need for having peace for their own good and the region in general.
Mtwara RPC Blaius Chatanda said there was peace and harmony as the police didn’t handle any bad incidents during the celebrations.
“Before the day (Christmas day) police beefed up security in all the areas, especially around the border with Mozambique,” he explained.
On his part, Rukwa RPC Mathias Nyanda stated that police were accorded great cooperation from the ‘wananchi’.
Ruvuma RPC Simon Marwa urged members of the public to come together and continue maintaining peace as they did during the celebrations.
He noted that the degree of peace and harmony was higher compared to previous years as no chaos or bad incidents were recorded.
“I deeply thank ‘wananchi’ in my region; I can say I’m proud of them; they maintained peace during the Christmas eve, Christmas day and Boxing day. We beefed up security but that was not the reason for them being calm; it’s rather their own appreciation of the importance of peace and calmness, ” he stressed.
Kinondoni RPC Musa Taibu said the region recorded no bad incidents in all the areas, including bad incident prone areas such as beaches, adding that police also intensified patrols throughout as well as ensuring safety in the roads for all users.
In another development, RPC Taibu said that there were no incidents related to children as used to be the case in the past, attributing the situation to the commitment of parents and guardians to ensure the safety of their children.
On his part, Coast RPC Wankyo Nyigesa revealed that police visibility influenced the peaceful situation as wananchi maintained peace and harmony throughout.
During Christmas sermons, clerics across the country appealed to Tanzanians to maintain peace, unity and love.
