TANZANIA COMPUTERS STOLEN TheCitizen Newspaper:

2009-08-08 10:26:00

5 held over raid at education institute

By Edward Qorro and Devotha John

Police have arrested five people who are suspected to have broken into the Tanzania Institute of Education (TIE) premises and hauled properties worth Sh300 million.

The recovered properties included a Mercedes Benz, which crashed with one of the suspects at its steering wheel immobilised at Ubungo. The driver broke his limbs and was yesterday admitted to the Muhimbili Orthopaedic Institute (MOI).

Police said another car stolen during the raid was still missing by yesterday. The crashed car belonged to Mr Mushi�s wife, according to police.

Dar es Salaam Special Police Zone commander Suleiman Kova and TIE executive director Paul Mushi yesterday told reporters that some of the recovered properties included 20 of the 70computers stolen on Wednesday night.

"The suspect must have been speeding and ended up hitting a tree� the driver has broken his two legs," Mr Kova said. He added that the 20 computers and four video cameras with two stands, a speaker, projector and a mixer were found after police searched suspects's homes.

At the same time, sources at TIE claimed that the robbery might have been planned by individuals from within the institution, who were however not named.

The sources said a power struggle at the institution might have precipitated the raid. However, when asked about the allegations, Mr Mushi said he knew nothing about any inside job as claimed.

One of the security guards who preferred anonymity, told The Citizen that the raiders expressed how uncomfortable they were to find an individual �whom we despise holding the top post."

"They were beating us up while shouting that this is because they did not want to see somebody at the top post," a guard who was injured during the raid said. Security was tight at the institute yesterday morning when reporters visited the premises. Officials were holed up in a meeting.