Powers of sungusungu

Few months ago the sungusungu stormed into my shop and took away my shop items to the office of the Ward Executive Officer on allegation that I was doing business without a licence. Are sungusungu vested with powers to storm into peoples’ shops or houses and seize articles for regulatory offences that have nothing to do with security and peace keeping in their local areas?
MM, Shinyanga

The Peoples’ Militia Act [Cap.111 R.E 2002] extends definition of peoples’ militia to cover the traditional security group known as sungusungu or wasalama. Section 4(1) of the Peoples’ Militia Act equates sungusungu with a police officer of the rank of constable and gives them power to arrest and conduct search when they suspect there is breach of any provision of any law of the land whether the law suspected to have been breached is a regulatory law or penal law. The law does not limit the power of sungusungu to offences that have bearing on peace and security only. They can exercise all the powers of arrest and search vested on a police constable.