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Increased armed robbery cause for alarm
2005-09-26 08:32:06
By Editor
Armed robbers have struck yet again. This time around, the residence of Dar es Salaam Regional Commissioner Yusuf Makamba was among the houses ransacked, while property was grabbed at gunpoint.
It is a jigsaw to many, having to imagine that a government official, of the level of an RC is as vulnerable as any ordinary mwananchi.
Incidents of armed robbery in the country seem to be increasing by the day, sending chilling fears to the people, especially those in urban centres.
News of gun wielding gangsters grabbing cash from shops, individuals and financial institutions are of daily occurrence, competing with election campaign news on front pages of newspapers and taking lead positions in the electronic media’s news bulletins.
At one time, such hair-raising incidents used to be the domain of places like the city of Dar es Salaam, Arusha and Moshi municipalities.
Now, however, armed robbery seems to be spilling over to other urban centres like Morogoro and Dodoma, and, of all the places, Zanzibar.
Border areas in the north and north-west regions have been infamous for armed commuter bus hijacking.
For a long time Zanzibar has been considered as the real haven of peace as far as crime, especially big time crime, is concerned.
They used to say one could be sure of getting back one’s wallet forgotten at a bar or beach with all its contents intact. But a wave of armed robberies recently forces one to be a little more careful and avoid some hitherto safe areas.
One of the often-advanced explanations on the increased armed banditry in the country is the proliferation of small arms in the East and Central Africa region compounded by civil wars and the resultant refugee dilemma. It is argued that too many small arms and sometimes assault weapons are in the hands of ’wrong’ people.
So that it is not quite strange that some or most of those involved in the armed banditry in this country, especially highway robberies and bank robbers, are foreigners from neighbouring countries. It is obvious that they receive substantial voluntary or forced assistance from local elements.
Memories of last Tuesday’s robbery when armed gangsters raided a Dar es Salaam foreign exchange bureau in broad daylight, seriously injuring two people and making away with some 150 million/- are still fresh.
While the number of gangsters could not be ascertained, it is believed that some of them were foreigners.
That such undesirable elements can be found in any society could be true.
But when those in the community who are supposed to protect the people and their property from the armed gangsters are themselves the robbers, the safety of the people is in grave danger.
And incidents of former and sometimes active police officers or members of the TPDF caught in armed robberies are not few.
A few months ago some three alleged armed robbers died in a police shoot out in Morogoro and one of the dead, Amani Ndembeka, was said to be a TPDF member. Early last week, two people were killed in a shootout with the police and one of the dead, one Kasule Mashauri, was again confirmed to be a member of the TPDF.
We know for sure that the TPDF is doing a commendable job, and that the very few, who engaging themselves in these heinous acts of banditry, are simply tarnishing the otherwise good image of the TPDF.
Yet, the fact that these soldiers are supposed to be protecting the citizens portray the force in a bad light.
It is dreadful for people who, by the nature of their duty, are supposed to carry arms with them, to be involved in banditry, because while it may not be easy for an ordinary person to obtain fire arms, it is quite easy for a soldier to get one.
The submachine gun found on the deceased suspect, for example, was given to him in the cause of his duty.
We go along with the suggestion that perhaps it is time the soldiers stayed in their barracks, away from the civilians to avoid too much contact.
It is true that it can be maybe good that there should be some interaction between the soldiers and the civilians, but we think such interaction should be kept to the barest minimum.
The bottom line is that the police need to do an extra job to at least cut down on the crime wave, especially now that the people need to concentrate on the coming general election. Are the police not stunned by the current crime wave?
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