ICC Note:
Local leaders are visiting Bueresere located in the Geita region of Tanzania. These leaders are appealing for a peaceful conclusion to an episode of violence that left one pastor dead and several other people critically injured. On Monday, a group of what many believe were Muslim youths, attacked Christian butchers and in the process beheaded a Christian pastor that attempted to intervene. Several people have been arrested in connection to this incident of violence, but tensions in the area remain high.         
2/14/2013 Tanzania (AllAfrica) – THE Minister for Home Affairs, Dr Emmanuel Nchimbi, has assured Buseresere residents in Geita region that the government will leave no stone unturned in ensuring that all those involved in fuelling religious conflicts in the area that left one person dead are brought to justice.
Dr Nchimbi gave the assurances when he visited the area accompanied by Geita Regional Commissioner, Mr Said Magalula. He appealed for peace urging people of different religious faiths to be tolerant with each other.
Skirmishes erupted in Buseresere town on Monday morning leading to the death of one person who was identified as Pastor Mathayo Kachila (45), of the Tanzania Assemblies of God church, who was beheaded by a group of youths believed to be Muslims.
Several people were also injured. Those admitted to Buseresere district hospital were identified as Said Ntahompagaze (45), Sadick Yahaya (40), Yasin Rajab (56), Vicent Damon (22), and another person identified by single name as Ramadhani who remains in critical condition.
A spokesperson of the Geita Regional Commander’s Office, Denis Stephano, said the skirmishes started at around 8.00 a.m. on Monday morning after a butcher owner at Buseresere delivered a consignment of meat. Soon after, several youths who were armed with machetes and sticks arrived at the butcher bearing a signpost reading “Bwana Yesu Asifiwe, Yesu ni Bwana” and pulled down the board tearing it into pieces.
They also allegedly spiked over 200 kgs of meat found in the butcher with suspected harmful substance. It was at this juncture that confrontations between Christians and Muslims took momentum. Several shops and motor cycles were set ablaze including a M-Pesa shop owned by the Chato BAKWATA District Chairman, Yusuph Iddi.
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