DAR ES SALAAM, May 28 (Xinhua) -- Tanzanian President John Magufuli on Sunday sacked Ernest Mangu, the east African nation's inspector general of police (IGP).
A terse statement by the Directorate of Presidential Communication said Mangu will be assigned other duties.
Magufuli has appointed Dar es Salaam Police Special Zone Police Commander Simon Sirro as the new IGP, the statement said.
Sirro will be sworn in on Monday by Magufuli who doubles as the commander-in-chief of the country's armed forces.
Mangu's ouster came two days after Tanzania's ruling party -- Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) -- tasked the government to do all it can to end alarming killings of innocent people in the southern districts of Rufiji, Kibiti, and Mkuranga in Coast region.
CCM Ideology and Publicity Secretary Humphrey Polepole said the government should end the killings in order to quash fear and uncertainty among residents in the three neighboring districts, located about 131 km from the commercial capital, Dar es Salaam.
The chilling killings by armed gangs in the three districts began in 2015, claiming the lives of 31 people, including police officers and local politicians, especially members of the governing party.
"We have keenly been following up on the grisly killings in the three districts. It is high time the ruling party intervened to stop losing more innocent people," he said.
Police have tightened security in the three districts but they have apparently failed to stop the killers.
In April this year, seven police officers were gunned down as they were returning to camp after a day-long patrol.
Minister for Home Affairs Mwigulu Nchemba told parliament in Dodoma, the political capital, recently that the government planned to establish a special police zone in Kibiti to arrest the wave of brutal killings in the area.
