Special machinery to make Arusha safest region’s city

MARC NKWAME in Arusha

IN an effort to ensure total security within Arusha Urban District, the Regional Commissioner (RC), Mr Mrisho Gambo, has led a dialogue towards forming special machinery to make the city safest haven in East and Central Africa.

The task force formed to address the issue has come up with various strategies that got tabled during the meeting headed by the Commissioner here.

Attended by various stakeholders from state and non-government institutions, security organs and representatives from a number of institutions based here, the dialogue started with the concept of installing closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras in each and every street to monitor the precinct 24/7.

“Arusha, being an important city, in that it is the country’s portal to important tourists’ destinations as well as hosting many international organisations.

Security within the urban precinct is paramount,” pointed out Mr Gambo, who added that full time street patrolling services in streets will also be introduced. Ordinary members of the community will also be involved in the security planning and undertaking for maximum effect.

The regional commissioner was of the view that Arusha needed to be the safest city in East and Central Africa, a status currently being held by Kigali in Rwanda. Arusha is currently Tanzania’s cleanest town after beating Moshi Municipality in latest ranking.

“We need to be proactive in matters of security not reactive,” remarked Mr Gambo. The city is home to nearly 500,000 permanent residents and is the highly populated among the seven district councils of Arusha.

The entire region has nearly 1.8 million people so far. Ongoing projects aimed at expanding the roads feeding the town were also described to be another way of ensuring safety for motorists and pedestrians and speeding up rescue services.

Arusha was also the first urban precinct in the country to have the area and postal code project, street naming and house numbering back in 2010.

Arusha City is the headquarters for the East African Community, a regional bloc comprising of six member states, including Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, Burundi, South-Sudan and hosts, Tanzania.