University ‘student’ among people held for Sh33 million tusks

What you need to know:

  • Mbeya Regional Police Commander Mohammed Mpinga told reporters on Wednesday, February 14, that the three suspects, who are Mbeya residents, were arrested at Mwanjelwa with the government trophies that they were carrying in their car.

Mbeya. Police in the region here have arrested three people, including a Saint Augustine University of Tanzania (Saut) student, over claims of being found in possession of four tusks worth Sh33 million.

Mbeya Regional Police Commander Mohammed Mpinga told reporters on Wednesday, February 14, that the three suspects, who are Mbeya residents, were arrested at Mwanjelwa with the government trophies that they were carrying in their car.

 “After they were arrested, police inspected the car the suspects were driving in only to be found with four pieces of tusk weighing 5 kilograms and worth Sh33 million,” he said.

Commander Mpinga said preparations were going on to take the suspects to court so that they would face the charges.

However, Saut authorities at Mbeya Campus have explained that the said student was not admitted to the university in the 2017/2018 academic year.

Saut vice chancellor responsible for academic affairs, Dr Makilika Venancy, said “a person bearing that name was admitted to the campus in the previous academic years. He is missing from the list of continuing students for 2017/2018 academic year. So, the university does not recognize him as our student,” he elaborated.

“Our conditions are such that a person is recognized as our student if he or she meets all the admission criteria, and this is done for every academic year, failure to that, one won’t be recognized,” he said.

Furthermore, Dr Venancy said even if the person were to be their student, still it would not have made it right to engage in activities that are criminal in nature.