Impact of Small Arms on Social Security in Tanzania

Over the decades, Tanzania and the world have experienced an increase in crime commitment. These incidences are related to the availability and proliferation of small arms. The possession and widespread of small arms not only cause insecurity but also hinder national and community development. This paper reviewed the impact of small arms on social security in Tanzania. The reviewed data and literature indicated that, cattle rustling, murder and armed robbery are among the serious criminal offences with severe impact on social security in Tanzania. The paper recommended that, security is a collective responsibility, security organs and community at large must cooperate in combating small arms and crime to ensure national and community peace and security for sustainable development.


Introduction
There is a close relationship between global peace and security and economic, social and political wellbeing of the people (Gamba, 2005).This is in line with Igbuzor (2011) who argues that, peace and security of life and property are pre-requisite for progress and development of any society.Tanzania is known to be the island of peace and has managed to remain peaceful after the transformation from colonialism to independence and from a socialist state to a free market economy (http://www.lonelyplanet.com/tanzania/history).
Globally, Tanzania impresses in the peace index by maintaining its 55 th position (Daily news, June, 2013).A study done by Omolo (2010) revealed that, in Africa, Tanzania took the top position with a peace index of 1678, it ranked 37 overall of all countries surveyed.In Sub Saharan Africa the country is ranked 6th after Mauritius, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Lesotho (Daily News, 2013).Moreover, the African Policy Institute (2009) indicated that, the country is the most peaceful among the five members of the East African Community (EAC), unlike the rest of the East African countries.Tanzania stands out as relatively stable, peaceful and united as far as civil wars, religious conflicts, ethnicity and coups are concerned.This situation was further evidenced during the political liberation movement which led to her independence through peaceful means.In addition, her peace was verified for her contribution towards African political liberation from colonial domination (Omari, 1992).Similarly, being peaceful state, the country participated in the process of bringing peace to other African states by engaging in conflict resolution through mediation, negotiation and reconciliation (Maundi, 2006).
The presence of peace in Tanzania is one among other factors that, contributes towards attraction of foreign investment.For example the inflow of the Foreign Direct Investment in Tanzania increased from $645 million in 2009 to $700 million in 2010 (Daily News, 2011).This is because most investors prefer to invest in the countries where there is peace and security for smooth development of their project and insurance of their capital safety.Not only for foreign investors, but also the presence of peace and security enables local citizens to engage in various economic and social activities such as trade, agriculture, mining, fishing and tourism.Despite the presence of peace in Tanzania since independence, the occurrence of small arms in one way or another affects the development of Tanzania especially on the Foreign direct investment.This situation in long run is unfavorable conditions for investors as a result the sustainability of investment might be hampered.Like other concepts in social discourse, there is no universal definition of the term social security.This paper adopted a definition of Social security from Igbuzor (2011) to mean the protection of community from any danger and threats from outside or within the community especially the threats associated with small arms.On the other hand, small arms include revolvers and self-loading pistols, rifles and carbines, submachine guns, assault rifles and light machineguns (Reyneke (Ed), 2000).
The production of small arms worldwide has been increasing (UNODA, 2011).It is estimated that, there are more than 500 million military-style small arms in the world whereby between 1980-1999 the annual production of military style small arms was estimated at 2.1 million and 21 billion units of ammunition (Madikenya & Majjata, 2008).The former UN General Secretary (20002), pointed out that, the world is awash with small arms and light weapons, numbering more than 600 million, enough for one in every ten people on earth.In the same context Shah (2006) found that, there were at least 639 million firearms in the world of which 59% are legally held by civilians and about 90 percent of civilian casualties are caused by small arms.This is far higher than the casualty count from conventional weapons of war like tanks, bomber jets or warships.
In Africa, the possession of small arms and their use in crime commitment has increased and becoming a threat to security and serious problem which is associated with among other things, a greater incident of violent death such as homicide, suicide, interpersonal violence, intimidation and criminality (UNDP, 2002).Due to this situation, on may, 2000 the then Secretary General of African Union, Dr. Salim Ahmed Salim emphasized the consequences of the proliferation of small arms and light weapons on peace process and human security.He called it a major cause in sustaining and compounding armed conflicts in Africa, more tragically, promoting the phenomenon of child soldiers (Reyneke, 2000).
The history of uncontrolled small arms in Tanzania dates far back as early 1960s during the cold war period (Mahanga, 2006).The cold war played a major role in promoting the spread of small arms for both Tanzania and Africa as well.The two blocs that competed at the time, the West and the East, (socialist and capitalist) supplied small arms to their allies, mostly the third world countries (ibid).The world regions were the battlegrounds and logistical bases for their conflicts both ideologically and politically.In connection to that, each bloc assisted the countries that followed their ideologies, (socialism or capitalism).The assistance based on the military training and weapons.Unfortunately some of the unfaithful solders provided illegally small arms to criminals.The above observation was shared by Hayuma (2008) that, the presence in a big number of uncontrolled arms; in which some weapons became illicit arms and felt into hands of criminals were a result of cold war and unfaithful security officers.The end of cold war in 1990s revealed that, refugees were the other source of small arms proliferation in the country.According to UNDP report (2006) the northern part of Tanzania has been receiving refugees from neighboring countries such as Rwanda and Burundi as a result of conflicts.Some of refugees entered in the country with small arms.This was supported by the African (2000) that, In the wake of the large refugee influxes, criminality rates in and around the designated areas' skyrocketed, for refugees armed with machetes or small arms committed killings, robberies and other crimes to obtain basic commodities and shelter.Some even settled outside the refugee camps and took part in illegal or rebel activities, causing instability and social disruption within the host communities.Previous researchers did their studies on different areas such as Emanuel ( 2006) who wrote on the influence of small firearms in Dar es salaam, Mahanga ( 2006) on impact of the availability and proliferation of small arms in Tanzania, while the study of Nyalifa (2007) was on the magnitude of armed robbery and proliferation of small arms in Dare salaam and Mwakamboja (2009) on the examination of best Practices on Small arms and light weapons in Kagera region respectively.However, there is no thorough study that have been done on the assessment of the impact of small arms on social security in Tanzania, therefore this paper tried to fill the existing gap by reviewing literature.

Illegal Possession of Small Arms in Tanzania
The proliferation and the possession of illegal small arms is a security challenge to individuals and nation in Tanzania.According to the available statistics from the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) Headquarters Office in Dar es Salaam, the number of illegal possession of small arms indicated an upward trend between 2009 and 2010 from 469 to 604.This might be due to the inefficiency and poor mechanisms in controlling the widespread of the arms by the relevant organs in the country.Also, it might be due to poverty and economic hardship that makes people to find ways of owning illegal small arms for the purpose of committing crime to earn income.These findings concur with those found, by the UNDP (2002) that, the possession of illegal small arms and their use in crime has increased and become a serious problem in Tanzania.However, contrary to the above, there was a slight decrease of illegal possession of small arms between 2011 and early 2012 whereby the number of illegal small arms was 550 in 2011 and 101 from January to March 2012 (Table1).One among other reasons for the decrease was due to the recent government efforts in combating illegal possession of small arms.

Impacts of the Possession of Small Arms in Tanzania
The consequences of small arms in Tanzania are dramatic where by the presence of such weapons and their application in crime commitment constrains peaceful development and is a threat to national and community security.Small arms have negative impact on social security of the people in the country.People are dying, suffering and developmental activities are affected.In fact, the availability possession and usage of small arms are associated with greater incidences of violent crime, murder, armed robbery, cattle rustling (Table 2).These findings are closely related to those found by small arms survey ( 2002) which revealed that, the possession and use of small arms contribute to a range of humanitarian effects, including forced displacement, declining access to basic needs and increase the scale and pace of killing.Again a recent study, done by Stohl ( 2010) who observed that, availability of small arms contribute to deaths and injuries, killing hundreds of thousands and injuring thousands more every year.The findings (Table 2) show the impact of small arms from 2004 up to 2007 due to the sensitivity of the nature of the study.This hindered the availability of recent data on the research problem.The statistics for these four years (2004 to 2007), indicates that, the possession of small arms was used to commit various crimes in Tanzania.Cattle rustling was a leading crime ranked between 3528 (45.5%) to 5,080 (53%), followed by murder that increased from 2,926 (30.4% ) to 3583 (35% ) while armed robbery was ranked between 1,108 (10.8%) to 1,080 (14% ).Despite the fact that, these crimes were committed by small arms, however, statistics show that, the stealing of small arms were low.For example, in 2004 there were about 70 incidence (0.7%), while in 2007 the incidences of stealing small arms increased to 104 (1.2%).This finding revealed that there are other means of possessing and using small arms illegally.These findings are supported also by Eavis (2002) who argues that, small arms is a rising problem in the community and hinder development.Small arms are prone to mis use and their misuse directly and indirectly affects thousands of people.It severely undermines sustainable development in scores of countries around the world and eventually leads to social insecurity (ibid).This argument is similar to that found by Banerjee & Muggar (2002) who reported that, small arms are a major source of insecurity and has massive impediment to sustainable development.

The Linkage between Cattle rustling and Possession of Small Arms
There is a close linkage between cattle rustling and the possession of small arms in Tanzania whereby most of the reported incidences of the cattle rustling were done by using small arms.Although the incidences of cattle rustling in Tanzania were fluctuating, but were a leading crime committed.Statistics indicated that, in 2004 the incidences of cattle rustling were 5080, while in the following year 2005 there was a slight decrease to 3,528 incidences.In the year 2006 there was an upward trend as incidences increased from 3,904 and 5153 in the year 2007 respectively (Table 2).Cattle were viewed as source of food, income generation, wealth and prestige.Therefore, the act of cattle rusting lead to food insecurity, poverty, hostility to the suspect and failure to access social services such as education and healthcare.These findings are not far from those found by Njoroge (2006) in Kenya that, the proliferation of small arms is one of the biggest security challenges currently facing the East African sub-region especially, Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya.He further noted that, the widespread proliferation of small arms is contributing to alarming levels of armed crime, in both rural and urban areas, which exacerbates armed cattle rustling and conflicts in pastoralist areas.Again he added that, there is a readily available market, particularly among nomadic communities in northern Kenya, along the Sudanese border, and also among the Kuria people along the Tanzanian border and in the underworld of major cities and towns such as Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu, Nakuru and Eldoret (ibid).

Association of Murder cases with Small Arms
Statistics shows that, there were murder cases which resulted from the possession of small arms in Tanzania.A study done by Madikenya & Majjata (2008) revealed that, the trends of murder cases were irregular.For example, in 2004 there were 2,926 (30.4%) murder cases, 2,775 (35.8%) in 2005, the number decreased in 2006 with 2,612 (34.2%) cases and rose up to 3,583 (3,583 (35%) murder cases in 2007 (Table 2).The consequences of the murder are many, but among others are increasing numbers of orphans, loss of parent lead to failure to access social services including education and health care, creation of bad relationship among people, psychological stress.These findings are similar with those found by Stohl (2010) who observed that, small arms contribute to deaths and injuries, killing hundreds of thousands and injuring thousands more every year.In fact, one person dies every minute from gun violence (ibid).Small arms are used to kill, forced disappearances, torture, and for sexual violence, particularly rape and forced prostitution.Moreover, these findings do not differ with those from survey done by International studies on Firearms Regulation (1999) & Afrat (2003) in Africa, Latin America and Europe which shows that, small arms kill many more people than any other weapons.Travelers' advisory report (2012) indicated that, there were several killings and threats of foreigners by using small arms in Tanzania.For instance, between January 2010 and www.hrmars.com/journalsJune 2012 over 35 British tourists in Dar es Salaam have been kidnapped, robbed and forced with the threat of violence.Again in June 2012, a Dutch citizen and a Tanzanian camp manager were killed in the northern Serengeti camp.Additionally, on 25 September 2012 a Greek national was killed after she was dragged along the road in central Dar es Salaam by thieves, who reached out of a moving vehicle to steal her backpack which she was unable to release.

The connection of Armed Robbery to Small Arms
The statistics indicated that, armed robbery increased from (12.2 %) in 2004 to (14 %) in 2005.However, there was a decrease from (13.4%) in 2006 up to (10.8 %) in 2007 (Table 2).These data concur with those found by Gasper (2010) which shows that, the incidents of hijacking passenger busses by armed robbers in Singida Region, involving 19 passengers who were travelling to Bukoba from Dar es Salaam.In that incident, armed robbers hijacked the bus, christened RS Investment, and robbed passengers of cash and other belongings valued at more than Sh5 million.This situation created, social insecurity, fear, loss of property and anxiety to the community.For instance, some passengers were injured and their money was taken by the robbers.From the researcher's view, in most of these incidences tourists were targeted, this might be due to the fact that, robbers believed that, tourists have money and other valuable properties.In supporting the incidences of hijacking Hayuma (2008) argues that, Dar es Salaam region was leading in car hijacking and armed robbery whereby the majority of those who engaged in armed robberies used small arms to commit crime.These scenarios not only affect the relationship between Tanzania and other nations but also it destroys the image of Tanzania as a peaceful country.Additionally, it had negative impacts on economic perspectives due to the fact that, investors and tourists will drop out due to insecurity.This drop out in one way or the other will affect our national economic growth both Gross National Product and Gross Domestic Product, because tourism and foreign investors contributes much towards Tanzania economic growth.Also those Tanzanians whom their employment and daily activities depend on tourism and investors will lose their jobs consequently they will not be able to meet their basic requirements.Furthermore, the impact of armed robbery to the local people are as follows; first it destroy the manpower who would engage in the production activities in various sectors such as agriculture, trade and industries hence it create social insecurity to the country and community at large.These findings concur with those found by UNDP (2002) that, the possession of illegal small arms and their use in crime and armed robbery in particular has increased and become a serious problem in various communities including Tanzania.In the same context, Mapunda ( 2004) on his study about Illegal possession of small arms and armed robbery found that, the increase of illegal small arms was the reason behind social insecurity in Tanzania.

Efforts made in combating illegal small arms in Tanzania
The commitment of the government of the united republic of Tanzania to protect peace and security in the country is clear and is constitutional obligation as provided under Act 8(1) (b) that "Every person has the right to live and to the protection of his life by the society in accordance with laws."Subsequently, the local government laws of 1982 placed more specific emphasis and responsibility to the local government authorities to ensure peace and security in the community (Tanzania Country report on small arms and light weapons 2006-2012).The government of Tanzania has taken several efforts of destroying illegal small arms (Table 3).The statistics indicates that, Dar es salaam is the most affected region with illegal possession of small arms as a result in 2009 the total number of illicit firearms destroyed at Dar es salaam region were 5660 as compared to 2565 in Kagera and 2772 in Kigoma regions.Furthermore, the study findings (Table3) revealed that, Tanzania is committed to international and regional cooperation in fighting the proliferation of illegal arms and weapons and promoting sustainable peace, security and human welfare.This was evidenced from various treaties and declaration on combating small arms made by the United Republic of Tanzania as follows; UN Protocol on small Arms and Light Weapon (SALW), 30 Despite of these efforts, the possessions of illegal small arms in the country still persist.This is a challenge to the security organs and institutions responsible for controlling illegal circulation of small arms.According to the Tanzania Daily News Editorial of 6 th December, 2012 armed banditry has escalated to alarming proportions in the last few months as a result of illegal ownership and usage of small arms (Ibid)

Conclusion and Recommendations
This paper concludes that, peace and security are very essential elements for national development in Tanzania.Secondly, still there is possession of legal and illegal small arms in the country which to the greater extent is associated with crime commitment.The possession of small arms and their use in crime commitment has increased and becoming a threat to security which is associated with among other things, a greater incident of violent death such as homicide, suicide, interpersonal violence, intimidation and criminality.The main sources of small arms are associated to cold war era and post cold war.During cold war era the two blocs were supporting their allies Tanzania among the countries which received weapons.In the post cold war era refugees are considered as the main source of small arms which are brought from neighboring countries.The proliferation and the possession of illegal small arms is a security challenge to individuals and nation at large.The usage of small arms in crime commitment constrains peaceful development and is a threat to social security because it leads to mortality and social injustice.
There is a close linkage between cattle rustling and the possession of small arms in Tanzania whereby most of the reported incidences of the cattle rustling were done by using small arms.Cattle rustling was a leading crime ranked between 3528 (45.5%) to 5,080 (53%), followed by murder that increased from 2,926 (30.4% ) to 3583 (35% ) while armed robbery was ranked between 1,108 (10.8%) to 1,080 (14% ).Finally, the study concludes that, although there is government efforts in combating small arms and crimes, the problem persist.
The paper recommends the following;  Social security is a prerequisite for human development.
 To avoid severe impact of small arms there are must be seriousness from both government and other stakeholders in combating the proliferation of illegal small arms. To avoid the penetration of small arms in the country, the government should take serious measures for borders patrol.A part from that, education should be provided to the community members so that any suspect to security threat should be reported and dealt with accordingly. The existing laws must be reviewed specifically on the aspect of punishment of illegal ownership and usage of small arms.Perhaps there is a need to make new laws and properly enforce them. The police and other security enforcement organs, the paper recommends that, they must work hard to combat small arms through proper supervision and update technology because the crime committers are changing techniques always. Community should be cooperative to support security organs in terms of providing helpful information whenever required and also to report for any suspects for further investigation. The police should keep secrecy for informants because reporting crime is sensitive issue if not handled with secrecy, informants life will be in danger and the community will lose trust to security organs. Finally, all stakeholders should work together to overcome the challenges posed by possession and illegal usage of small arms in the country.

Table 1 : Illegal possession of small arms in Tanzania
Source: CID Headquarters Statistics Office, Dar es Salaam

Table 3 : Statistics of illicit firearms destroyed country wide from 2006 to 2010 during the operations in various regions
th, May 2001, The Bamako Declaration, 1 December, 2001, Southern Africa Development Community Declaration, 9 th March 2001, SADC Protocol 14 th August 2001, Nairobi Declaration 15 th March 2000 and Nairobi Protocol, 21 st April 2004.Also, in the effort to combat illegal firearms recently, the security forces were able to impound 304 guns as part of state campaigns of illegal firearms.The Police Force recorded a total of 876 criminal incidents between January and September 2012 in which Source: http://allafrica.com/stories/201212060181.html