OPINION: The journey to Dar via corruption cartels

Marwa Msele lives, breathes and talks animals. Pastoralism is his way of life. When I met him on a Dar es Salaam-bound bus, he was headed to the city for the first time in his over 40 years of existence.

Travelling light, donning green gumboots with only the shirt he was wearing and a black workman’s trouser he had on, Marwa had travelled from rural Tarime through the Sirare-Isebania border post via Migori, Kisii, Kericho, Nakuru, Nairobi and Namanga before we met in Moshi, sitting side by side on the bus.

His story was riveting and at the same time baffling and his lack of awareness was a reminder of how regional integration sits with those of us who are not highly educated.

His response to my question as to why, as a Tanzanian, he was opted to travel to Dar es Salaam through Kenya was: “When I travel from Tarime into Kuria District in Kenya, I feel at home because of the people. You see, I have never had a passport, but I have been crossing into Kenya ever since I was a child herding cattle, hunting and even farming. You see, a former MP for Kuria in Kenya is a Kenyan by passport, but is really Tanzanian. I also feel very welcome in Kenya as no one has ever harassed me.”

As Marwa spoke I overhead a Kenyan behind me narrating loudly on telephone how he had been harassed at immigration for a long time.

“These guys don’t want us to enter Tanzania,” he said. I had heard this complaint from someone else who was interrogated at the same Namanga immigration control, in his own words, as if he was an assassin wanted for some major crime.

There obviously is a problem as reflected by the words Prof Kitila Mkumbo wrote on twitter. It seems that administrators have yet to understand and interpret President John Magufuli’s remarks.

When Dr Magufuli says the Immigration Department has gone rogue and decides to shuffle the pack, he is obviously thinking about the sale of work permits to the highest bidder. He is fighting corrupt elements who were selling residency permits to the highest bidder, no questions asked.

With the changes and disciplinary action here and there, elements have now turned to using legal means to harass people and obtain money by extortion. The gentleman who was on the phone is a case in point. He was asked how long he would be in Tanzania and he said two weeks and was asked him what he would be doing for such a long time.

Now the East African Community envisages that an East African can be in another East African country for up to six months as long as their entry via an East African passport is legal. I asked Marwa whether Kenyan immigration control officers questioned him in depth at Isebania border control and he said they did not.

He was equally surprised why Kenyans were being subjected such embarrassing questioning he witnessed at Namanga by enthusiastic immigration teams who seemed determined to stop Kenyans from entering Tanzania at any cost.

To raise money for his passport-less journey to Dar es Salaam, Marwa sold livestock in Migori, Kenya, where he said prices were usually better. What’s more, the whole journey from Tarime to Dar es Salaam via Nairobi cost him Sh45,000 compared to over Sh65,000 he would have spent had he opted to travel through Mwanza and Dodoma or Arusha and Serengeti.

Corruption is of course fighting back. What the faceless immigration folks are doing is making life difficult for genuine travellers and sabotaging the government’s efforts to curb corruption in issuing of entry, work and residency permits.

They are either unable to interpret what the government wants or are deliberately on the side of corruption networks fighting to reclaim their space. You will find Marwa at the Vingunguti slaughterhouse enjoying his second week in the big city.