TAHADHARI: UTAPELI MKUBWA WAIBUKA JIJINI DAR.

New Tannesco LUKU Sceme In Dar !

Reported by some one in the Diplomatic community.

Dear Colleagues,

Yesterday around midday, 9 men invaded my compound in Mbezi Beach while I was at work. They claimed to have come from Tanesco HQ and were there to inspect the LUKU meter. The house was locked so they could not access the meter. They harassed my guard and threatened to take him to the police station if he did not call me. The guard called me and I spoke to the men on their phone.

The purported inspector told me that they had used a GPS machine to measure the activity of my LUKU machine, and found it defective. He told me that he would assist me to correct the problem instead of referring the matter to Tanesco Office, but he needed some money to do this. I told him my guard does not keep money and asked him to come to UNICEF. He and four other men came to UNICEF but refused to enter the compound. I and one of the KK guards went out to talk to them. They asked for Tzs 3 million. I tried to get them to move closer to the gate so that people would see their faces but failed. They were very guarded and the vehicle they used had very dark tints on windows. They left after a few minutes.

I refused to give them money and they left, threatening to go and disconnect power at my house.

I called Tanesco for advice and was forwarded to the security section. The security personnel advised me not to take any action before they got here. When they arrived, I narrated the whole story to them. They were quick to point out that the inspectors were fake. Tanesco does not use GPS to measure anything. The 9 men were con-men popularly called "vishoka" who have been terrorizing Mbezi, Ubungo and Kigamboni for money. He informed me that 6 such men were caught the day before and were being held at the Central Police Station. It was his guess that the men who came to my house and that of another lady in Ubungo were looking for money to bail out their colleagues, which would explain their aggressive behavior. I gave them the phone number of the person who called...and the number plate of the vehicle.

Be careful of anyone calling himself Sadiki Kanya: 0716652020

The security personnel asked me to warn my colleagues and friends and to share the below telephone numbers. If you experience any disturbance from vishokas, please call:

Francis Maze: 0777/0762450226
Eng Sangiwa: 0765110070
Godfrey Lyimo: 0767553324
Tom: 0754984287

Please warn guards and helpers at your residence. The group barging into the compound will comprise not less than 6 people. They must be prepared not to open the gate and must call for help immediately. If the men make it into the compound, it will be virtually impossible to control the situation. They have strength in numbers. They are loud, aggressive and very well-dressed (and well-fed!), with authentic-looking Tanesco ID cards, forms, cameras etc. The was even one man bearing what looked like BBC ID, representing the media.