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Robbers terrorise Dar suburb
2007-05-12 10:04:59
By Austin Beyadi
Commuter bus crew and passengers on the Makanya/Mlandizi/Tandale Uzuri route in Dar es Salaam have been travelling in great fear following an upsurge in the incidence of ambushes and armed robberies organised by unidentified touts and other youths.
A survey by The Guardian in the area over the last week has established that people travelling on the route are often harassed and robbed of their belongings by people they believe are protected by dishonest law-enforcement agents.
The survey has further confirmed that the situation has prevailed for months now and efforts by local residents to have the police chip in with assistance are yet to bear fruit.
``This has become the order of the day for quite some time now,`` Ismael Amisi, a commuter minibus driver on the Ubungo/Msasani route, said in an interview.
``Almost each passing day passengers and conductors are robbed of money and other valuables with such ease that you would think they are living in an empire where they are their own masters,`` he added.
He cited an incident a few days ago where an elderly woman sustained serious injuries after people suspected to be robbers attempted to rip rings off her ears.
He said the hapless woman successfully clung to the rings but ended up with bleeding ears, ``as the bus crew and her fellow passengers looked on as if nothing wrong was going on``.
``We couldn’t do anything because this is the route we have been officially assigned and, should we dare intervene, we can almost bet the thugs will do something very bad to us in the future.
That is why we turned a blind eye as the woman was assaulted,`` Amisi explained.
He said at times they are forced to stop carrying passengers soon after dusk for fear of being ambushed and robbed.
Hussein Juma, a bus conductor on Tandika/Sinza route, meanwhile explained:``People are forced to alight at Magomeni and jump onto buses bound for Mwenge via Shekilango Road to avoid encountering the armed thugs who have become a common feature on this route.``
“There are even times we are forced to advise our passengers to close all windows whenever going through areas notorious for harbouring hooligans,” he pointed out, naming some of the most unsafe spots as Mtogole, Kwa Tumbo, Kwa Alimaua, Popobawa, Beobeo and Morocco Hotel bus stops.
``We normally work only from early morning to just before dusk and ensure that our daily collections are kept in some secret safe custody for security reasons,`` observed Juma.
Asked for comment, Tumbo ward executive officer Peter Mkongerezi admits of being aware of the problem but said they were “seriously working on the issue``.
``We have organised neighbourhood watches to patrol the areas but are often overpowered by the bandits because they always move and strike in groups,`` he observed.
He noted that they have repeatedly reported the matter to the Magomeni Police station but are provided with armed patrol staff only once in three to four weeks.
``The common explanation they have been giving us is that there is a critical shortage of police officers at the station and that it is hard for them to be on patrol every day,``` said the officer, adding that there was an urgent need for closer cooperation between the police, residents of the reported areas and bus crews to solve the problem.
Elaborating, Mkongerezi said commuter bus conductors were also to blame “because they sometimes knowingly carry confirmed pickpockets and bandits instead of telling them off and denying them entry into their buses``.
``These criminals are of the bus conductors’ own making because some bus operators pick them up without charging them bus fare.
Whenever the criminals` mission flops, they normally rob the same conductors and innocent passengers,`` he added, a charge most bus operators interviewed denied by saying that they too can easily fall prey to the criminals.
The ward officer underlined the need to hasten the construction of a police post at Kwa Tumbo, saying it would help a lot because it would be located near the bus stop.
Dar es Salaam Regional Commissioner explained in a telephone interview with The Guardian yesterday afternoon that he was learning about the reported crime wave for the first time, promising immediate serious follow-up action.
For his part, Acting Kinondoni Regional Police Commander Aveliny Luoga also said the reports on the swelling crime wave in the areas named were ``complete news`` to him.
He said it was likely that none of the victims of the criminal activities had alerted the police and likewise promised to follow up the matter with the police posts close to the reported areas for “crucial details before we know how to advance``.
Kwa Tumbo resident Hadija Athuman was brief and blunt: ``These hooligans live right in our midst. We know them by face and by name but we cannot disclose their names because doing that would lead to grudges and vendettas and innocent law-abiding citizens would end up the losers.``
She said at times confirmed criminals terrorising the area are arrested but their relatives soon after bail them out, ``evidence that those relatives gain from the hooliganism and criminal activities``.
Anita Suleiman from the same area concurred, recommending that there be established regular police patrols to contain the situation “because the criminals keep digging in with the passage of time``.
``The crime wave has made many commuter bus operators pull their vehicles off the road too early in the day, denying poor wananchi the only means of decent transport they can afford,``
The criminals are said to be especially active at round about dawn and soon after sunset.
When contacted by telephone, the Minister for Public Safety and Security said he was not aware of the problem.
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