Two government ministers are among the latest victims of crime. Deputy Minister for Community Development, Gender and Children, Dr Batilda Burian, lost her mobile phone worth over TShs 400,000 from her home in Kijionyama. A second robbery then took place at the new house of neighbouring Deputy Minister for Defence, Omar Yussuf Mzee. Mrs Mzee told the press that her ornaments (including 22 rings) made of gold, diamond, and rubies worth millions of shillings were taken. She offered a TShs 500,000 reward but to no avail. Mrs Mzee said she kept the 22 rings so as to match her dresses – Mtanzania.

President Kikwete visited Muhimbili Hospital to see the injured after a spectacular robbery at Ubungo in Dar es Salaam. TShs 150 million belonging to the National Microfinance Bank (NMB) was stolen – part of TShs 1 billion being transferred from Dar es Salaam to Morogoro. Kikwete sent condolences to the family of Corporal Abdallah Marwa who died in the shootout, and promised that the government would meet all the educational costs of his three children. Apparently a Traffic Officer was directing vehicles at the Morogoro Road/Mandela Expressway junction just moments before the incident. He rushed to the Ubungo Terminal Police Station to get a gun and came back to single-handedly repulse the eight robbers in a fierce exchange of fire. He was later carried shoulder-high by people who commended his bravery, which saved the remaining TShs 850 million the robbers couldn’t carry. The President instructed the Inspector General of Police (IGP) to promote all the policemen involved in the incident remarking that such a robbery could not have been planned without collusion of bank staff. A big crowd gathered at the hospital to cheer Kikwete. Some patients were visibly touched by his visit. The President said he had been out of the country at the time of the robbery but had been kept fully informed – Tanzania Daima.

Kilimanjaro police caught five suspects in connection with an incident on July 21 in Arusha in which 33 visiting American evangelists and their Tanzanian hosts were robbed at gunpoint in Hai district. Their property, valued at TShs 3 million, was taken at around 11.00 in the morning. Police have assured tourists of safety while they are on tour in the country. From now on tourist convoys in Arusha will be accompanied by armed plain-clothes officers. Most attacks on tourists were said to involve employees of tour firms – Guardian

Also in Arusha in July armed gangsters raided a flower farm making away with TShs 37.8million around midnight. They fired several gunshots into the air before taking some people hostage. Nobody was injured in the incident. Three watchmen and three masons working there were taken into police custody.

Mwananchi has reported that the Government is becoming increasingly concerned about the proliferation of small arms in the country and hence the increase in violent crime. Where are the weapons coming from? The paper said that some government leaders and police officers were of the opinion that they are smuggled in from neighbouring countries into the bordering regions of Kagera, Kigoma and Rukwa. It is believed that from there the arms are distributed to other regions, all as part of an international network.

Over 400 vehicles were impounded in Arusha in June for contravening road safety regulations. Some TShs 10million were collected in fines.