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Govt: Fleeing Kenyans entering Tanzania
2008-01-03 09:06:56
By Rose Mwalongo
The government yesterday confirmed reports that scores of Kenyans fleeing post-election violence in their country were crossing over into Tanzania.
Public Safety and Security minister Harith Bakari Mwapachu said in an interview with this paper in Dar es Salaam that dozens of Kenyans have been crossing the border separating the two countries since the violence erupted at the end of last week.
He said some of those on the run following the political unrest, mainly blamed on the widely disputed results of last Thursday`s general election that saw President Mwai Kibaki controversially declared the winner and swiftly sworn in, streamed in through Mara, Kilimanjaro and Tanga regions.
However, the minister declared that security organs were ``alert and vigilantly monitoring every little move to ensure that Tanzanians and their property are in safe and sound condition``.
He added that all relevant agencies in border districts had been alerted on the situation in Kenya and how it could develop and were on permanent standby and ready to chip in as appropriate if need be.
``We held talks with Inspector General of Police Said Mwema this morning and we have given special instructions to all border regional police commanders in connection with the developments across the border,`` explained Mwapachu.
``The immigration and the military are all monitoring and assessing the situation around the clock. We have not as yet closed the border but we will take more stringent measures should the influx pose a threat to the peace prevailing in our country and security of our people and their property,`` he added.
Asked on the level of the measures taken so far to curb the influx of the Kenyans, most of whom he said were of Asian origin, the minister pointed out that the number of those in flight was still too small for the government to come up with too serious action.
According to the minister, the government has already identified an area in Arusha for settling Kenyan refugees ``should their numbers climb to levels calling for such action``.
Arusha Regional Police Commander Matei Basilio said in another interview with The Guardian that the number of Kenyans entering the country through the Namanga border post was still tolerably small.
However, he added that a number of Kenyans of Asian origin who had fled before Thursday``s election were still in the region waiting for the situation back home to improve.
``We have launched massive patrols around all border villages. All security groups in the region have had an audience with the regional commissioner and brainstormed on the situation,`` noted the RPC.
``We have also alerted the residents of the respective villages to be extra vigilant by keeping a keen eye on any strangers and alerting us immediately. But so far we have not had any strange reports,`` he added.
He said vehicles previously moving to and from Uganda via Nairobi had since abandoned the route for security reasons.
``The commuter buses and other vehicles have since switched to the Singida-Mwanza-Bukoba route. There also has been a drastic fall in the number of vehicles moving between Arusha and Nairobi and other parts of Kenya,`` the RPC pointed out, adding that there were still Kenyans heading back home from Arusha ``although in uncharacteristically small numbers``.
Contacted for comment, Tanga Regional Police Commander Simon Sirro said the number of Kenyans moving into Tanzania was now smaller than obtained before the election.
``Only a few Kenyans from Mombasa have been coming to visit their relatives in Tanga. The residents of the two cities have a lot in common, chiefly thanks to close cross-border family links,`` he explained.
He also said security was tight around the region, ``with the anti-robbery squad, the Immigration Department and other state security and law-enforcement agencies doing their utmost to ensure that the influx does not jeopardise peace and security in our country.``
The RPC said they had combed guest houses in the coastal city and its suburbs for more than three times ``until we satisfied ourselves that there are no illegal immigrants anywhere around``.
He added that security agents would maintain patrols around the borders to arrest any situation that might threaten law and order.
Meanwhile, Mwinyi Sadallah reports from Zanzibar that the Tanzanians from Pemba Island currently living at Shimoni in the Kenyan port city of Mombasa have requested the government to provide them with transport to enable them return home following the turmoil in Kenya.
Reports from family members of some of those holed up in Mombasa say their distressed relatives have been calling them in Pemba asking them to rescue them because it has become near-impossible to enter or leave the city by bus or boat.
``We have been receiving phone calls from relatives saying they are forced to lock themselves in their houses for fear of being attacked and robbed.
They have told us that business has ground to a halt because of the ongoing turmoil and they have been struggling to get back home but in vain,`` said a resident of Maziwa Ng`ombe village in Pemba who preferred anonymity.
But Pemba North Regional Commissioner Dadi Faki Dadi said he was yet to receive any requests from Tanzanians from Pemba or elsewhere keen to flee Shimoni.
``I have talked to many knowledgeable sources and have not received any such information or requests ever since the unrest in Kenya erupted,`` he noted.
However, he explained that some Tanzanian businesspeople who had been in Mombasa and Kisumu had safely returned to Pemba before the turmoil began.
``There are also reports that a number of fishermen from Maziwa Ng`ombe area in Pemba are stuck in Mombasa following the onset of bad weather, including fierce winds. As we speak, they are yet to make it back home,`` said the RC.
Dadi explained that they were monitoring the movements of every person entering the region ever since the recent eruption of violence in Kenya ``to ensure that those getting in abide by our laws, rules and regulations``.
``Most of the people who have fled into Pemba from Mombasa are living with their relatives because they have their origins here. They are not refugees,`` he said.
``The regional security committee discussed the movements of these people between Pemba and Mombasa. Should there be any suspiciously massive influx of people from the latter point, we shall ensure that they reside here in accordance with our laws, rules and regulations of the country,`` he added.
He, however, stressed that the region was yet to receive any refugees from Kenya `although any genuine one coming this way will be provided with all basic needs as provided for under international.
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