Vehicles seized as police step up sugar crackdown

Kilimanjaro RPC,Absalom Mwakyoma

By Daniel Mjema
The Citizen Reporter
Moshi. Police in Kilimanjaro Region have impounded 23 vehicles laden with sugar, which was being smuggled out of the country.Most of the vehicles were impounded in Himo Town, Moshi Rural District, according to the regional police boss, Mr Absalom Mwakyoma.The vehicles, including buses and lorries, were seized during a weeklong police operation to stem the smuggling of sugar into Kenya.  The road linking the rest of Kilimanjaro Region with the Holili border posts passes through Himo Town.Mr Mwakyoma told The Citizen yesterday that police impounded the vehicles after being tipped off by members of the public.

“People volunteered information…they tipped us off and we managed to intercept a substantial quality of sugar that was about to be smuggled out.  The sugar would definitely have been smuggled out had we not been tipped off,” he said.

Mr Mwakyoma added that his office had established a special unit charged with enforcing the government’s ban on sugar exports to ease the commodity’s shortage, which has pushed prices up in recent months.

The regional Peace and Security Committee would meet soon to discuss the fate of the seized vehicles, he said.
“I’m not in a position to say whether or not the vehicles will be nationalised…this will be decided by the regional Peace and Security Committee.”

Mr Mwakyoma added that nationalisation of vehicles used in smuggling was not easy, saying care must be taken to ensure that nobody is victimised.He said, however, that the impounded sugar would be sold at retail prices recommended by the government of between Sh1,700 and Sh1,900 a kilo.

Last week, Kilimanjaro Regional Commissioner Leonidas Gama banned lorry drivers from parking their vehicles on the roadside in Himo Town as part of efforts to prevent the illegal export of sugar and other food commodities to Kenya.He said many lorries arrive in Himo during the day, and are parked in the town before heading to the border at night.
Despite the government’s ban, traders have been going out of their way to smuggle sugar into Kenya and Uganda, where prices are much higher than in Tanzania.

The government has directed that a kilo of the sugar be sold at a maximum of Sh1,700, but the commodity retails for up to Sh2,600 in many parts of the country.

Prime Minister Mizengo Pinda said last month that the Tanzania People’s Defence Forces (TPDF) might be deployed to stop sugar smuggling following complaints that police were not doing enough to tackle the booming illegal trade.
Mr Pinda issued the warning during a tour of Mara Region, where the smuggling of sugar through the Sirari border post was rampant.

Mr Pinda said the impounded sugar should be sold to retailers who must sell it to consumers at prices recommended by the government.The PM’s directive drew mixed feelings, with some commentators praising it as the right decision, while others criticised it, saying commodity prices should be determined by market forces.

Hardly a day after the Prime Minister made the remarks, police launched a nationwide operation that is still going on.
Director of Criminal Investigations Robert Manumba said regional police commanders had been ordered to send officers to inspect warehouses and auction sugar found to have been hoarded by traders.

“I have directed all regional police commanders to make sure that the exercise is carried out effectively and prosecute those defying the government’s directive,” he said. Mr Pinda also ordered a crackdown on traders hoarding the commodity in warehouses. He directed law enforcement organs to inspect all warehouses owned by sugar dealers and confiscate any hoarded merchandise.