Mwanga link to Tanzanian arrested in Garissa

Moshi. The Tanzanian man arrested in connection with last week’s deadly Al Shabaab attack on a Kenyan university in which at least 148 people were shot dead, has been reported as hailing from Kilimanjaro Region’s Mwanga District.

Mr Rashid Charles Mberesero has been described as hailing from Mwanga’s Usangi Village even contacted members of the well-known Mberesero family distanced themselves from the man and appealed to police to carry out more investigations to verify his “actual identity”.

The news of Mr Mberesero’s arrest soon after the massacre at Garissa University College on Thursday, and his link to Kilimanjaro has come as a shock to most residents in the region, including the Mwanga MP and minister for Water, Prof Jumanne Maghembe.

“News that the suspect is from Mwanga has shocked me. I know the said Mberesero family, but most of them are Christians. The suspect’s full name suggests he be could belong to either of the two religions,” said Prof Maghembe (pictured) in an interview with The Citizen yesterday.

Media reports in Kenya first reported of the arrest of the Tanzanian suspect who was flushed from the ceiling of one of the buildings that came under attack. The reports quoted the Kenyan police as confirming his nationality.

On Saturday Kenya’s Interior Ministry spokesman Mwenda Njoka said Mr Mberesero, who was neither a student nor a resident of the university, was seized while in possession of several rounds of ammunition at.

“We believe the suspect, who is from Tanzania, was among the attackers. He was found with bullets and hiding in the ceiling and was immediately arrested,” said Mr Njoka.

He added that the said Tanzanian national is now among scores of suspects who are in custody in connection with the raid that was the worst Al Shabaab attack on Kenyan soil.

In Mwanga, a member of the Mberesero family, Mr George Mberesero, told The Citizen yesterday that they have been receiving calls from different people inquiring about the said Rashid.

“We don’t know this Rashid Charles Mberesero. We are an all-Christian family but the said suspect’s first name suggests he’s Muslim. We are appealing to investigating teams from both Kenya and Tanzania to find out the correct position with regard to this matter,” he said.

Separately, other Usangi residents who The Citizen contacted recalled that a suspect whom they didn’t immediately know was arrested in the area last year and was in possession of an Al Shabaab flag.

“We remember the police arrested a young man with the flag but they later released him following intervention some elders, said one resident who requested not to be named since the matter was sensitive at the moment.

The Kilimanjaro Regional Commissioner, Mr Leonidas Gama, said he had only read the news on the arrest of the suspect but did not have any concrete information on his background.

“Personally, I was saddened at the grisly slaughter of innocent students, but I am equally shocked to hear that a Tanzanian may have been among the gunmen,” said Mr Gama.

Kilimanjaro residents now want State security agencies to take keener interest in what has been happening in the area, with reports that some people are involved in youth radicalisation in the name of offering religious education.

They pointed out to the recent arrest of seven people who are being investigated over giving training of youngsters, which include religious teachings and martial arts.

The youths are drawn from several parts of the country and are trained in the confines of the suspects’ homes instead of licensed madrasas that have been certified and recognised by Islamic authorities in the region.