Grief in Morogoro as thieves of scrap metals

A grave after a grave after a grave in this cemetery in the Eastern Tanzan city of Morogoro is vandalized.

In some there is a gap where a metal crucifixion once stood, in others the religious symbol is bent, as the thieves who hoped to sell it to remove traders, tried and failed to remove it.

More than 250 were directed in only one small section of the Car Cemetery.

Crimes happen at night when there is no security around, there are no cemetery workers.

They left the families devastated, and the sites defiled, igniting anger.

For more than two decades, Pudensiana Chumbi has been going to the cemetery about once a month to visit the graves of her daughter and mother – and for her suffering, both have been defiled over the last few years, many times.

The first to be directed was her tomb to her mother, who died in 2000.

A few months after the family managed to save, to replace the stolen cross at the end of 2021, then her daughter’s grave was damaged. She was nearby and a little older – her daughter had died in 1997 at the age of 15.

Before D, Chumby decided to repair her daughter’s cross, to her horror the new cross of her mother’s grave was crowded.

In the work of what to do further, she thought that the metal was not an option when it came to replacing her daughter’s waist.

“This is my child’s grave – my fourth child,” she said, pointing to the concrete cross.

The theft of crosses and markers from the graves has become a disturbing trend in this part of Tanzania, driven by the increasing demand for scrap metal.

“The people who do this are cursed because they are all sad for what is happening,” G -Ja Chumby tells the BBC.

“There are some young men who now require payment to guard the graves overnight, especially those with tiles.”

Tiles can also be sold for people to use as decorations in their home.

Augustine Remmi, the brother of D -Ja Chumby, says he is upset for the whole community.

“This is too bad … When those areas that deserve respect are subjected to such bad actions, it really hurts a lot,” he told the BBC.

The theft rash reflects despair among some to earn some money that cancels ethical fears about the damage to the sacred objects.

Criminals can win somewhere between 700 and 870 Tanzan shillings (0.27- $ 0.34; 0.22- £ 0.28) per kilogram.

This is not a huge sum of money, but it may be enough to pay for a salesman’s food plate or some local alcohol.

“Metal dealers often buy without asking questions,” says a man who admitted to the BBC that he has stolen crosses from a cemetery to sell on the metal market.

Agree to talk about the state of anonymity, he describes how the thieves will go to first welders who cut the crosses into pieces before taking them to scrap traders.

The traders themselves face the choice of buying more expensive stolen goods or following the law.

Izire Ramadhani, a dealer in the center of Morogoro, recalls that in 2023 he, along with some other scrap traders, caught someone trying to sell a stolen cross and reported it to the authorities.

“In the past, they brought us crosses. But then we took one of them to the police, and later he was sentenced to three and a half years in prison-then the theft was reduced, but now it is back,” says G-n Ramadhans in front of BBC.

He insists that he does not buy stolen goods.

“If a cross is brought here, the person who comes to sell us will be in difficulty because we will take him to the police.”

The thieves also began to head to other grave markers such as tiles and marble decorations that can easily be sold to other buyers.

Dr. Ndimil Kilatu, a health official of Morogoro, said the city’s authorities planned to improve the security of the cemeteries by introducing fences and security, but warned that “it requires resources and time.

“This is not something we can do today or tomorrow.”

He also mentioned initiatives to train scrap dealers for metals for materials that should not be purchased, such as grave markers and rail components.

In response to crimes, the Tanzania government also promised to regulate the metal scrap industry.

The deputy chairman until Biteko emphasized the need for the licensed business to comply with laws and provisions.

“What is required is to simply have to have this and keep the population educated on the same object. We will continue to train our people to put our infrastructure in safety,” he told the BBC.

Religious leaders also appeal to their communities to do more to prevent those involved in these crimes.

Pastor Stephen Misigara of the Jesus Assembly of God in Morogoro called for a united effort to educate youth for the need to respect the sacred places.

“Together we have to restore their dignity. We know that some young people are exposed to bad action, but we can bring them back on the right path,” he says.

For relatives of those whose graves are defiled, there is a sense of powerlessness.

D -Ja Chumbi wants more money to be spent on cemetery security, as well as a commitment to take care of the sites that take care of a place where loved ones are laid.

She is in the process of replacing her mother’s waist for the second time – and as in the case of her daughter – he chooses concrete.