Human Rights Watch has accused police guarding the North Mara Gold Mine in northern Tanzania of complicity in the deaths of at least six people and injuries sustained by several others in clashes around the mine in the past four months.
The rights watchdog called on Tanzanian authorities to promptly launch “independent and impartial investigations” into the incidents, the latest in a series of similar allegations involving security operations at the mine since 2014.
The mine, which is located in Mara region close to the border with Kenya, is operated by Canadian multinational Barrick Gold with the Tanzanian government holding joint shares and providing the security as part on their agreement.
Read: Tanzania signs new implementation deal with Barrick
This is not the first time local police have been accused of using excessive force, including killings, to prevent artisanal miners from conducting their own small-scale operations in and around the premises.
According to rights groups and community members, police officers have been responsible for beating, shooting, torturing, and detaining without charge residents of areas near the mine and dumping areas.
The police in turn have accused the residents of illegal invasion and stealing from the mine and its surrounding waste rock dumping sites, but have made no arrests so far.
“The growing number of unaccounted for killings connected to Tanzania’s North Mara Gold Mine reflect a worrying pattern of impunity for abuses that needs to be addressed,” said Oryem Nyeko, senior Tanzania researcher at Human Rights Watch in a statement from Nairobi on Wednesday.
“The Tanzanian authorities should not sweep these deaths under the rug but should ensure that those responsible are held to account,” he added.
Court case
Barrick Gold, meanwhile, told HRW this week that it did not have “any de facto control” over the local police and their actions.
“The police are requested to enter the mine site to assist in upholding law and order when the company employees’ lives are in danger. We are not in any way involved or aware of police activity in the community nor can we be responsible or accountable simply because such activity occurs in geographical proximity to the North Mara Gold Mine,” HRW quoted Barrick as saying.
Barrick is currently facing a court case in Canada where a group of 21 Tanzanians is suing the company over alleged complicity in extrajudicial killings and beatings of residents by police assigned to the North Mara mine.
The petitioners claim that the company has converted the police operating in and around the mine “into a private and heavily armed security force.” A preliminary hearing of the case, which was filed in 2022, has been scheduled for October this year, according to HRW.
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Tanzania Confirms Outbreak of Marburg Virus Disease
Dodoma — Tanzania today confirmed an outbreak of Marburg virus disease in the northwestern Kagera region after one case tested positive for the virus following investigations and laboratory analysis of suspected cases of the disease.
President of the Republic of Tanzania, Her Excellency Samia Suluhu Hassan, made the announcement during a press briefing alongside World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, in the country’s administrative capital Dodoma.
“Laboratory tests conducted in Kabaile Mobile Laboratory in Kagera and later confirmed in Dar es Salaam identified one patient as being infected with the Marburg virus. Fortunately, the remaining suspected patients tested negative,” the president said. “We have demonstrated in the past our ability to contain a similar outbreak and are determined to do the same this time around.”
A total of 25 suspected cases have been reported as of 20 January 2025, all of whom have tested negative and are currently under close follow-up, the president said. The cases have been reported in Biharamulo and Muleba districts in Kagera.
“We have resolved to reassure the general public in Tanzania and the international community as a whole of our collective determination to address the global health challenges, including the Marburg virus disease,” said H.E President Hassan.
WHO is supporting Tanzanian health authorities to enhance key outbreak control measures including disease surveillance, testing, treatment, infection prevention and control, case management, as well as increasing public awareness among communities to prevent further spread of the virus.
“WHO, working with its partners, is committed to supporting the government of Tanzania to bring the outbreak under control as soon as possible, and to build a healthier, safer, fairer future for all the people of Tanzania,” said Dr Tedros. “Now is a time for collaboration, and commitment, to protecting the health of all people in Tanzania, and the region, from the risks posed by this disease.”
Marburg virus disease is highly virulent and causes haemorrhagic fever. It belongs to the same family as the virus that causes Ebola virus disease. Illness caused by Marburg virus begins abruptly. Patients present with high fever, severe headache and severe malaise. They may develop severe haemorrhagic symptoms within seven days.
“The declaration by the president and the measures being taken by the government are crucial in addressing the threat of this disease at the local and national levels as well as preventing potential cross-border spread,” said Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa. “Our priority is to support the government to rapidly scale up measures to effectively respond to this outbreak and safeguard the health of the population,”
Tanzania previously reported an outbreak of Marburg in March 2023 – the country’s first – in Kagera region, in which a total of nine cases (eight confirmed and one probable) and six deaths were reported, with a case fatality ratio of 67%.
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In the African region, previous outbreaks and sporadic cases have been reported in Angola, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ghana, Kenya, Equatorial Guinea, Rwanda, South Africa and Uganda.
Marburg virus is transmitted to people from fruit bats and spreads among humans through direct contact with the bodily fluids of infected people, surfaces and materials. Although several promising candidate medical countermeasures are currently undergoing clinical trials, there is no licensed treatment or vaccine for effective management or prevention of Marburg virus disease. However, early access to treatment and supportive care – rehydration with oral or intravenous fluids – and treatment of specific symptoms, improve survival.
Source: allafrica.com
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