Robbers on motorbikes spread fear in Arusha

Arusha. It was a Sunday morning in late June and a woman working at a bureau de change in the Clock Tower area had just arrived to open shop. This area has the largest concentration of currency exchange shops, banks, food joints and tourist hotels--and armed security guards and police always ready for action.

She had just started opening the forex shop next to a bank when she was confronted by armed men who ordered her to surrender the money she had in a bag.

Instead of obeying them, she screamed for help from passers-by, one of them a worshipper at the nearby Lutheran Church. He went to the rescue, but was shot and died instantly.

Not even the taxi drivers dared come close to the two gangsters, who sped away with a bag with millions of shillings and convertible currencies. This was just the latest of robberies in Arusha involving motorcycle riders. No arrest has been reported to date and witnesses still cannot believe the ease with which the robbery was carried out in such a “secure” neighbourhood.

The district and regional security authorities gave an order locking motorcycles out of the central business district. The motor bikes, which brought much relief to commuters in the suburbs of Arusha when they were licensed to carry passengers five years ago, are now associated with violent crimes.

Only weeks before the fatal shooting of a bureau de change employee, a worker of the Palace Hotel was killed when he chose to take a bodaboda ride home in the night.

The security meeting, which was chaired by Regional Commissioner Magesa Mulongo, brought in a raft of security measures to forestall rising crime involving motor bikes.

Under pressure from the business community, those present pleaded for a ban on bodaboda operating near automated teller machines (ATMs) outlets in town. This also included parking or dropping passengers close to banks. There had been numerous cases of unsuspecting customers drawing money from the ATMs being robbed or fatally wounded by armed gangsters.

“The initiative has come from the business community because we are worried about the escalating crime in the city, especially those targeting the tourism and banking sectors,” said Mr Moses Onunga, the general manager of the imposing Palace Hotel.

It is hard to tell, though, how the ban on motor bikes operating in the city centre will be enforced. They are, after all, the preferred mode of transport for many. Arusha Regional Police Commander Liberatus Sabas could not be reached yesterday. Neither could his Kilimanjaro counterpart, Mr Robert Boaz.

Robberies involving motorbikes have risen in Arusha in recent years. In May last year, a Catholic nun was shot several times during a robbery in which some Sh20 million was snatched. The gun attack took place at Notre Dame premises in Njiro on the outskirts of Arusha. Sister Shobana Synd was ambushed as she was returning home. She survived and said her attackers were armed men riding on motorcycles.

Bodaboda criminals mostly target those going to the bank to deposit or withdraw cash. A few days before the Njiro robbery, some Sh10 million was snatched in yet another robbery involving priests from Mt Kilimanjaro Diocese of the Anglican Church.

Sometime last year, police here stumbled a boda boda rider who had a shotgun with six rounds of ammunition hidden in a bag he was carrying.

The arrest only confirmed growing fears that some of the motorcycle riders could be behind the spate of crimes, especially robberies, given the ease with which they can speed away. Motorcycles have also been associated with petty crimes in many city’s neighbourhoods. But that has not spared them being used as “a deadly weapon” by criminals.

The August 2013 killing of a prominent gemstone dealer in Arusha, Mr Erasto Msuya--which sent shockwaves across the region and beyond--was also associated with the two-wheeled machine.

The heavily armed thugs sent to eliminate the “billionaire” were on motorbikes when they lured their victim to a spot between Arusha and Moshi and cut him down in a hail of bullets.

Motorcycles has not been confined to robberies in Arusha. The tourism hub has also been hit by deadly grenade attacks since last year. A suspect who attacked Olasiti Catholic Church on the outskirts of the city on 5 May last year, killing three worshippers, fled from the scene on a bodaboda, according to eye witnesses.

A similar case was reported during a Chadema election rally on 15 June. Four people, including a senior party official, lost their lives. Many others were injured in the “terror” attacks. The attack on a restaurant in a leafy suburb in the city on 7 July also bore all the hallmarks of a motorbike raid. Scores of people were injured, including foreigners.