TPDF allays fears over army vehicles seen in Tanzanite mine

Dar es Salaam. The Tanzania Peoples Defence Forces (TPDF) clarified yesterday about military vehicles, which were seen along the Mirerani tanzanite mining.

Panic was high among residents of Mirerani township of Simanjiro district who thought that the army had embarked on a special operation around the mine, which is surrounded by the perimeter wall.

The TPDF spokesperson, Colonel Ramadhani Dogoli, told The Citizen that the vehicles were Armoured Personnel Carrier (APC) that are used to transport troops when going for patrols.

“The APCs were constructing roads that will be used in patrolling around the wall. They were not military tanks as it has been reported,” he said during a telephone interview.

He assured that there is no operation that is taking place at the Mirerani tanzanite mining and that people should remain calm.

“We are just preparing for the patrols, which will be carried out around the wall. The wall occupies a large area, so we can’t patrol on foot or by landrovers,” he said.

Earlier, the chairman of Manyara Small Scale Miners Association, Mr Sadick Mneney, told this paper that most of the miners were in shock after seeing the APCs rove around the mine.

“We are really shocked after seeing the trunks (APCs) rove around the wall,” he told this paper.

This comes just a few days after a Presidential Commission revealed that revenues collected through royalty had declined from Sh444 million to Sh40 million in June.

The Prof Idris Kikula-led commission attributed the decline, among other things, to Tanzanite smuggling.

Security has been tightened around the wall after report by the recently appointed presidential commission was released.

The perimeter wall is meant to end illegal trade of the rare gemstone.

Earlier this week, water bowsers and motor vehicles carrying miners and mineral dealers were refused entry to the mines.

There were chaotic scenes at the new entrance after the small-scale miners were stopped and only allowed through if they had both the national identification (ID) cards and special IDs issued by the ministry of Minerals. Majority of them did not have them.

Miners said the measures caused mining activities to virtually come to a halt.

They expressed their disappointment over the decision by the regional authorities to enforce the new measures before ensuring that most of the miners and other operators had the required IDs.

Mr Mneney was quoted as saying that the miners were not against the government’s decision to stop smuggling, but were not happy with the way the process had been carried out.

“The majority of the miners lack national IDs as well as those issued by the ministry of Minerals and other IDs such as voter registration cards are being rejected,” he was quoted as saying.

Earlier in the year, President Joseph Magufuli directed the military to build the wall with security cameras, checkpoints and one entry point.

However, the surveillance cameras and security lights have yet to be installed.