Border security checks tightened

• Officers aiming to prevent a lapse like the one that occurred with Sheikh al-Faisal

The government has intensified security checks in Msambweni to prevent foreigners from coming into the country illegally.

This move was brought about by the recent entry of Jamaican hate preacher Sheikh Abdulahi al-Faisal through the Lunga Lunga border.

The newly posted Msambweni district commissioner, Mrs Muzne Abdullatif, said a crackdown on foreigners using the porous border had already borne fruit, with several of them arrested and arraigned in court.

Addressing district officers, chiefs and assistant chiefs in her maiden meeting at the Msambweni Hospital boardroom, the DC called for vigilance.

“The case of al-Faisal has taught us hard lessons and we do not want to take any chances in securing our area. Most of the aliens that have been arrested include Tanzanians and Ethiopians who have been trying to gain access through Pungu Kidimu, a village in Msambweni.

“We have intelligence information that most of the aliens use various entry points along the porous border, including the sea, to cross into the country. But all security officials in the area have been put on high alert,” Mrs Abdullatif said.

To fight crime alongside Tanzania, she said they were planning a joint meeting with administrators from the neighbouring country.

Programme

“We have already drawn a programme of meetings for security heads from Msambweni, Kwale, Kinango in Kenya and bordering districts on the Tanzanian mainland and Zanzibar,” the DC said.

Other areas of concern would be complaints by local fishermen that they were being harassed by security officials from a neighbouring country.