Grief in Morogoro as scrap metal thieves target crosses

The tomb has been brutally vandalized after the tomb in this cemetery in the Eastern Tanzanian city of Morogoro.

In some, there is a difference where a metal stood on the cross once, in others, religious symbols are bent as thieves, who were hoping that it was selling traders to scrap, tried and removed it. I failed

More than 250 have been targeted in a small part of the Cola municipal cemetery alone.

Crimes mostly occur at night when there is no security, there is no cemetery around the cemetery.

They have destroyed the families and instigated the sites, aroused anger.

For more than two decades, Pudensiana Chumbi has been going to the cemetery once a month to visit her daughter and mother’s tombs – and both of them have been provoked several times in the last few years.

The first to be targeted was his mother’s grave, who died in 2000.

At the end of 2021, he managed to save the family to replace the stolen cross, a few months later, his daughter’s grave was then damaged. It was near and a little older – her daughter died in 1997 at the age of 15.

Before Ms. Chumbi could decide to fix her daughter’s cross, a new cross was swipe on her mother’s grave.

In a strangeness about what to do next, he realized that the metal is not an option when he came to change his daughter’s cross.

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

The theft of crosses and markers from the graves has become a disturbing tendency in this part of Tanzania which is inspired by the increasing demand for scrap metal.

Ms. Chumbi told the BBC, “People who do so are cursed because everyone is sad what is going on.”

“There are some young people who now demand payment to guard the tombs overnight, especially tiles.”

People can also be sold to use as decoration in their home.

Ms. Chumbi’s brother Augustine Remi says it is upset for the whole community.

“This is very bad … When these areas which deserve respect are subject to such bad acts, it really hurts,” he tells the BBC.

The rash of theft indicates a frustration between some to make some money that eliminates moral concerns about damaging the holy sites.

Criminals 700 and 870 Tanzania Shilling ($ 0.27- $ 0.34; £ 0.22- £ 0.28) can earn somewhere between per kg.

This is not a very large amount, but it may be enough to pay for a plate of food from a seller or some locally ground alcohol.

“Metal dealers often buy without asking questions,” a person said that in the BBC, who admits that he stole the cross from the cemetery to sell on the scrap metal market.

Agreed to speak on the condition of anonymity, he explains how the thieves first go to the welder who first cut the cross into pieces before taking to scrap traders.

Traders themselves have to face the choice of buying cheap stolen goods or following the law.

Isoer Ramjani, a dealer at Morogoro City Center, recalled how in 2023, he caught someone, trying to sell the stolen cross with some other scrap traders and informed the authorities.

“In the past, they used to bring us the cross. But then we took one of them to the police, and later he was sentenced to three and a half years in jail-after that, the theft has reduced, but now it has returned , “Mr. Ramjani told the BBC.

He insists that he does not buy stolen goods.

“If a cross is brought here, the person selling us will get into trouble because we will take him to the police.”

Thieves have also started targeting other serious markers such as tiles and marble decorations, which can be easily sold to other buyers.

Health Officer of Morogoro Dr. Nedimile Kilku said that the city officials planned to improve the graveyard security by introducing fences and guards, but warned that “this requires resources and time.

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

He also mentioned the initiative to educate scrap metal dealers about the materials that should not be purchased, such as serious markers and railway components.

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

Deputy Prime Minister Dotto Bitko has emphasized the need for licensed businesses to follow laws and rules.

He said, “Whatever is necessary, to implement it and to keep the population educated on the same subject. We will continue to educate our people so that we protect our infrastructure,” they told the BBC.

Religious leaders are also appealing to their communities to stop those involved in these crimes from taking them out.

In Morogoro, Pastor Steven Sushrigara from Jesus’ God’s Jesus Assembly has called for a united effort to educate the youth on the need to honor the holy places.

“Together, we should restore their dignity, we know that some young are in touch with bad acts, but we can return them to the right path,” they say.

For relatives of people whose tombs have been uprooted is a feeling of frustration.

Ms. Chumbi wants more money to be spent on security in the cemetery and at the same time there is a commitment to take care of a place where attention is paid to a place where loved ones are kept to rest.

She is in the process of changing her mother’s cross for the second time – and, as in the case of her daughter – is choosing for concrete.