In Summary
In August 2012, a Kenyan sex worker,
21-year-old Agnes Wanjiru, was found dead in a septic tank after being
seen in the company of British soldiers training in the area.
Whenever a Mzungu person gets hurt or arrested
overseas it becomes hot, sizzling news. Earlier this week when the
Norwegian soldier Tjostolv Moland died in a Kinshasa prison, the father
was immediately sought out by the press and lashed out at authorities
“for being passive” on the case.
It is claimed Moland and Joshua French, both young
soldiers, killed a Congolese driver, were accused of spying and
sentenced to death. True or not, the matter has attracted much
attention.
Compare this to British soldiers accused of
killing sex workers in Tanzania and Kenya in 2004 and 2012,
respectively. The alleged murder of Conjesta Ulikaye (found naked on a
beach) in Dar es Salaam, on 10 November 2004, ended with two soldiers
(who had served in Iraq), walking free after appearing before the Kisutu
Resident Magistrate’s Court. Both Nigel Moffet, 23, and Brett
Mallinson, 20, were freed after the Director of Public Prosecutions
dropped the case against them.
It was reported in May 2005 (by Tanzanian Affairs)
that some human rights activists “had said the government showed that
it valued the rights of foreigners more than that of its citizens and
added that the decision had tarnished Tanzania’s image. One said the
decision to drop the case had shocked women who now felt they were not
being protected by their own government.”
In August 2012, a Kenyan sex worker, 21-year-old
Agnes Wanjiru, was found dead in a septic tank after being seen in the
company of British soldiers training in the area.
Kenya’s human rights organisation, Social Watch,
contend there had been a fierce fight in the room where two soldiers and
Agnes, occupied.
Such “fights” with sex workers are frequent.
In a recent documentary on Kenyan television
(Silisili ya Ukahaba) by Saida Saleh, young girls forced into
prostitution in Mombasa, Kilifi and Malindi claim Italian men in
particular tend to go with under-age girls ( and boys). “Most do not
want to go with those over 20 years.”
One experienced sex worker narrates how she once
threatened a male client with a broken bottle “because he said he had no
money after spending the whole night together. We are sometimes forced
to fight with these Wazungu, when they say, Sina Pesa!”
No wonder “fights” end in death.
If we skip the plight of sex workers, soldiers and tourists and focus on drugs.
Early this year, a 56-year-old British
grandmother, was sentenced to death after allegedly smuggling $2.8
million worth of cocaine into Bali. Even after her appeal was quashed in
May, the Foreign Office continues a relentless drive. The defence is
that she was pressured to carry the drugs by a gang who threatened one
of her sons.
A similar type of reason was given by the young British females,
arrested for carrying 11 kilograms of cocaine worth $2.35 million in
Peru this month.
One. Melissa Reid and Michaella Conolly, both aged
20 claimed they were forced by gangs in Spain. Two. Another female (in
fear of her life and hiding) claims she was also coerced, refused and
fled.
Three. Human rights lawyer, Peter Madden, asserted Michaella was bullied into carrying the drugs.
Four. Melissa’s father, Billy Reid flew to Peru to
see his daughter. Pictures of him and her embracing (her in tears)
splashed in newspapers.
Compare this with the arrests of young Tanzanians
overseas. In a letter from a Hongkong prison currently circulating on
the Internet (and sent to several radio stations), a 35-year-old held
with 130 others , says many Tanzanians continue to be hanged for
smuggling drugs in China. This goes unreported. The letter writer
explains why he had to transport cocaine via Dar es Salaam airport. He
lost his job, was kicked out of his house by the landlord whom he owed 6
months rent and was “fortunately” rescued by a smuggler who paid the
debt and blackmailed him to be a mule.
This rare story throws light on drug trafficking
in Tanzania while naming some of those connected, including a well known
Member of Parliament (who has already denied the accusation).
Add the story of the young pretty Fatuma,
sentenced to death in Egypt in June. Her news was hardly reported. Or
the three women caught with 204 pellets of heroin valued at Sh7.1
billion in South Africa, in July. At least 30 Tanzanian women were
arrested in connection with drug trafficking between 2010 and 2012,
according to the Daily News. Last month four Tanzanian boxers were
sentenced to 15 years in prison in Mauritius.
Desperation is hastily driving the youth to drugs.
In June, United Nations World Drug Report said
while the use of hard drugs like heroin is stable (or declining) in rich
countries, it is blossoming in poorer ones.
“Africa is emerging as a target for the trafficking as well as production of illicit substances.”
Many things need to be done but chief is for the government making drugs a national crisis.
souce: The citizen
souce: The citizen
