Some 4,428 cases of cattle rustling were reported last year, reflecting a sharp decline of the crime in the country, police said.
Police Commissioner Ibrahim Kilongo who is the commanding officer in-charge of the National Stock Theft Preventive Unit (STPU) said 11,845 livestock were stolen countrywide in 2010, including 4,718 cattle.
He said out of the 11,845 raided animals, the police managed to recover 3,817 stolen livestock, which means the remaining 8028 others got lost for good. In connection with livestock thefts, a total of 2,211 cattle raiding suspects were arrested countrywide last year and nearly 4,430 legal court cases filed against them.
“We filed 4,428 cases that led to various penalties, including fines and jail terms for the offenders. “A total of 726 people were found guilty and are now serving various terms in prisons, 70 were fined and 1,100 are waiting their verdicts from various courts,” said Mr Kilongo.
In 2010, 2,040 alleged cattle rustlers were arrested, 4,718 cases filed, 3875 cases executed and 549 of them solved, where 720 accused were convicted and jailed. The decline of cattle rustling cases has been attributed to good cooperation between various institutions, including the Tanzania National Parks (TANAPA) the Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority (NCAA) the Pastoralist Indigenous Non-Government Organizations (PINGOS) Network and village leaders.
The STPU head, revealed that, in the past, cattle raiding rackets used to go along with mass killings of people because rustlers were normally armed bandits. The rackets also used to go hand-in-hand with community and tribal conflicts where different villages would set out to steal cattle and other types of livestock from each other. Ngorongoro District of Arusha was especially notorious in this area.
By MARC NKWAME, Tanzania Daily News
