The Angel that is Dunia

by lute wa lutengano

I must admit I am among those people in Arusha who are prone to losing the mobile telephone handsets every other month. Actually, I am slowly beginning to believe that my potential thieves believe my handsets are theirs by right.

This experience has now become a well traveled path. Whenever I lose a handset I report the matter to nobody. I simply go out and buy a new one. That means, like every right minded Tanzanian, I never report the matter to any police station. It is futile exercise.

I have as a result managed to recover only two handsets, actually by accident, out of the twenty or more incidents involving my losing a handset. I tend to harbour strong beliefs that when one reports such a matter to the police, the latter will highly suspect that one is a prime candidate of Namirembe, the home of deranged minds.

The same must have crossed the mind of Rehema Maghamba, a Customer Services Manager with Standard Chartered Bank in Arusha, when she lost hers at Salender Bridge in Dar es Salaam. Driving in a saloon car she stopped at the traffic lights at the bridge, when out of nowhere her assailant attacked. A young man, with lightening speed, snatched her handset through the window and vanished. Naturally Rehema was furious. But what could she do? Nothing! That was on 26 June 2007.

She continued with her projects in Dar es Salaam. She now hated the city. The bumper to bumper traffic jams, the humidity and the mass of humanity jostling each other in the narrow Dar es Salaam streets compounded her grief.

Now enter CID Abdallah Dunia of the Magomeni Police Station. Taking a stroll in one the city streets and in his civilian clothes, a day or so later, he came across two youths fighting over a mobile phone handset. One was complaining that his colleague wanted it for very little money. He refused his offer because he felt the handset should fetch more money taking into account that he had risked his life by stealing it and that it was also an expensive set.

Dunia intervened and was only too glad to learn that the fighting duo was in agreement to sort out the matter at a police station. On arrival there he arrested them and confiscated the handset. Much as it had already been blocked he also managed to retrieve some data which enabled him to get in touch with Rehema’s husband in Arusha, who relayed the new developments to his wife on 30 June 2007.

The next day Rehema was at the Magomeni Police station where she was received with courtesy by Dunia. He politely listened to her story after handing her the handset. He even showed to her the alleged thief who snatched her handset.

To Rehema, the whole scenario was surreal. Here was a policeman who not only apprehended the thief of her handset, but who also took the initiative and time to look for her so he could hand back to her the handset. Dunia told her that he was only doing his job as a policeman.

Narrating this event, Rehema was all praise to Dunia. How she wished that all cops were like Dunia. Surely that would revolutionise the image of our police force which, I must admit, is not always that rosy.

Walking out of the Magomeni Police Station, Rehema suddenly felt that Dar es Salaam, with all its problems and with all its thieves, still had a few angels and Dunia was surely one them. I can not but agree!

lutengano@hotmail.com.