Tanzania's outspoken political figure killed in road accident

Tanzania's outspoken politician Reverend Christopher Mtikila was killed on Sunday in a road accident at Chalinze in Coast region, police said.

Jaffari Mohamed, Coast regional police commander, said three other passengers in the car sustained injuries and were rushed to nearby Tumbi hospital.

The 65-year-old politician was chairman of opposition Democratic Party and was not vying for any political post ahead of the east African nation's October presidential elections, Members of Parliament and civic leaders.

Patrick Mgaya, the late Mtikila's relative and among the three survivors, said they were on their way home after launching campaign rallies for parliamentary seats in the southern region of Njombe on Saturday.

"When our driver tried to avoid the truck we veered off the road and hit a ditch that caused our car to overturn three times throwing Mtikila out throw the windscreen," said Mgaya.

Mgaya added: "The body of Mtikila did not sustain open injuries except a little blood was oozing from his mouth."

Mtikila had distinguished himself for his repeated calls for indigenization of the economy.

That made him popular with a section of the society, especially thousands of unemployed youths or petty traders.

The call for the indigenization of the economy made him unpopular with the Asian business community and foreign potential investors.

For him, liberation of Tanzanians should go beyond opening doors for multi-party democracy. The economy should be in the hands of the indigenous people who, according to him, have been largely marginalized.

He fought for constitutional amendments which would allow independent candidates from contesting elective posts, including the presidency. Endit