Tanzanian MP to spend six months in jail for assaulting policemen

Peter Lijualikali, a Member of Parliament for Kilombero in south-western Tanzania will spend the next six months in prison for assaulting policemen in March last year.

He was found guilty and sentenced at a district magistrate court on Wednesday together with his driver, Stephano Mgata, who was handed a six-month suspended sentence for the same offence.

According to local news portal, The Citizen, the court decided to jail the MP because he was previously handed suspended sentences in three assault cases in 2014.

“After going through Lijualikali’s record, the court decided to hand him a six-month jail term because it is not the first time that he committed and was convicted of such offences,” The Citizen quotes the presiding judge Timothy Lyon.

His driver was spared jail term because it was his first offence, the judge explained.

In March 2016, the MP attacked policemen at the district’s headquarters which is in contravention with the country’s penal code.

Peter Lijualikali will spend the next six months at the Idete Prison but will continue to be a Member of Parliament as explained by his lawyer who quoted the constitution that says a person ceases to be an MP if convicted for more than six months.