Introduction

The city of Dar es Salaam is the economic capital of the United Republic of Tanzania. Founded in 1862 to make use of the natural harbour on the Indian Ocean, the city’s population is estimated at more than 3 million inhabitants occupying some 1 350 square kilometres and including eight offshore islands.

Over the past three decades, Tanzania has faced a series of economic setbacks, aggravated by specific events such as the 1973 petroleum crisis, the 1974 drought that wreaked havoc in a mainly agricultural economy, the 1977 collapse of the East African Community and the 1978/79 war with Uganda. These economic problems exacerbated the already ailing economic performance of the post-Arusha Declaration era. Several efforts to salvage the economy included:

• the National Economic Survival Programme (NESP 1980/81);
  
  
• the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP 1982);
  
  
• the Economic Recovery Programme (ERP 1984); and
  
  
• the Economic and Social Action Plan (ESAP 1989), which is considered to have had a positive impact leading to five consecutive years of per capita growth in gross domestic product (GDP).

Despite these policies, the country’s poor economic performance together with the high levels of corruption, the smuggling of goods and the embezzlement of public funds, have had a severe impact on the lives of ordinary people in Dar es Salaam. For those lucky enough to find employment in the public service, surviving on a minimum wage of less than US $30 a month remains difficult. Despite a deliberate ‘private sector thrust’ involving economic liberalisation and recovery programmes, the weakening of controls and market-oriented policies, the Economic and Social Action Plan is unlikely to improve the livelihood of the majority due to the city’s rapid population growth.

Policies to deal with the rapid growth of Dar es Salaam are contained in the city’s master plans. The last City Master Plan was prepared in 1979 with an envisaged lifespan of 20 years ending in 1999. However, due to mismanagement in its execution and other unforeseen problems, the plan has not achieved its goals. This is demonstrated by the growth of unplanned settlements from 40% when the plan was prepared in 1979 to 75% in 1999. Other problems include:

• the further densification of unplanned settlements;
  
  
• the growth of new unplanned settlements in peripheral villages and on hazardous lands;
  
  
• the development of newly planned suburbs without basic infrastructure and social amenities;
  
  
• the manifestation of urban sprawl and unco-ordinated city centre renewal; and
  
  
• city centre traffic congestion, air pollution and a lack of enough organised parking spaces, open spaces and recreational areas.

Crime in Dar es Salaam: 1990-1995

Urbanisation in Dar es Salaam has occurred against a backdrop of socio-economic and political change. This has included the liberalisation of the economy through trade, industrialisation and an upsurge in investments. Politically, the country has been moving towards multipartyism after 31 years of single-party rule and 25 years of a socialist economy.

The socio-economic, political and cultural environment has created, among others, increasing levels of urban criminality, delinquency and violence. Police statistics have shown that, by the end of 1995, Dar es Salaam accounted for 25% of all crime reported to the police throughout the country. In 1997, this figure rose marginally to 26%.

Between 1990 and 1995, a total of 573 668 crime incidents were reported to the police in Dar es Salaam. In 1995 alone, 126 401 crimes were reported to the police — the highest for the period under review. The figure represents an estimated 346 crimes reported daily and 14 crimes reported hourly.

The role of local authorities in safety and security

Institutional arrangements

Dar es Salaam is governed by a political structure consisting of three levels — region, district and division. The administrative structure has four levels — city, municipality, ward and subward.

The highest political level is headed by the regional commissioner who is appointed by and accountable to the president of the country on all matters related to the city/region including safety and security. The three districts (Kinondoni, Temeke and Ilala) are headed by commissioners who are also appointed by the president and account to him through the regional commissioner. The district commissioners are the chairpersons of the district development committees which include the defence and security committees. These committees are all accountable to the president.

The third and most decentralised political structure — the divisions — is headed by a divisional secretary. Four divisions are in Kinondoni district, three in Temeke, and three in Ilala. The secretaries report to the district commissioners on matters of safety and security and link with ward executive officers only on matters related to safety and security in their wards (see table 1).

Alongside the political structure is the administrative and executive structure. The highest level is the Dar es Salaam City Council headed by the city director who is appointed by the president and accounts through the minister for Regional Administration and Local Government. Below the city director are the three municipal directors who are appointed by and accountable to the minister through the city director. The ward and subward (Mtaa) leaders are below the municipal directors. In some areas, there are also villages (vijiji) and hamlets (vitongoji).

Subward leaders (Mtaa chairpersons) are elected, while ward executive officers are appointed by the city director through municipal directors, and are accountable to the city director.

Through the system of wards and subwards, the administration of the city is brought closer to the people by involving them in decisionmaking processes and the prioritisation of development requirements. This participatory initiative is essential in making development activities substantive and sustainable. The Mtaa chairpersons are therefore required to be involved in the identification, planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of safety and security issues in their jurisdiction.

The structure outlined above is meant to enable the City Council to fulfil its obligation of maintaining peace and order in its area of jurisdiction. According to the Act of 1982:

"It shall be the responsibility of each urban authority as a local government authority … to maintain and facilitate the maintenance of peace, order and good governance within its area of jurisdiction. … For the purpose of better executions of its functions, a local authority shall take all such measures as in its opinion are necessary, desirable, conducive and expedient … for the suppression of crime, the maintenance of peace and good order and the protection of public and private property lawfully acquired."1

Local initiatives on crime and safety

As provided for by law, the Dar es Salaam City Council has initiated several projects to improve security in the city. The City Council has moved towards strengthening law enforcement and policing in the city, as well as facilitating crime prevention initiatives and supporting the residents and lower levels of administration in this respect.

The council is currently finalising the process of employing city auxiliary police to replace the locally recruited city Askari. The city auxiliary police will complement the police in the areas of:

• enforcement of city by-laws;
  
  
• targeted patrols;
  
  
• guard duties;
  
  
• crackdown on violators of prioritised city by-laws on trading licences, environmental violations, violations of building regulations, traffic and parking violations, and others; and
  
  
• enforce crime prevention through visible policing (with a focus on the security of juveniles and women and on social security), provide crime prevention advice and education to the public, and co-operate with the police, and private and community-based security groups (like the local SunguSungu group).

Since 1998, the Dar es Salaam City Council through with the support of the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (UNCHS) Habitat Safer Cities programme, has also embarked on a project to build public awareness and sensitise communities on safety and security issues. This external support has been key in overcoming the lack of resources and expertise facing the council. Perhaps more importantly, this support has helped to ease the difficulties in daily operations faced by the council (and other local authorities).

The Safer Cities Dar es Salaam project

The safer cities approach encourages partnerships between national governments, city governments, neighbourhoods and citizens. The approach was launched by UNCHS (Habitat) in 1996. It aims to provide local authorities (cities, municipalities and towns) with technical support to develop sustainable ways of preventing violence and crime in the context of reducing or preventing the occurrence of crime or the fear of crime. Dar es Salaam is among a few cities already successfully implementing this initiative.

The Safer Cities Dar es Salaam project was initiated by UNCHS in co-operation with the International Centre for the Prevention of Crime (ICPC) in Montreal, Canada. Financial support was provided by the Dutch government. The project was launched in August 1998 by the Dar es Salaam City Council.

The project began with a strategy development phase, which consisted of a comprehensive participatory analysis of the crime situation in the city and an analysis of police crime data.

The opinions of ward and subward leaders on crime in the city, gathered during seminars in March 1999, were that offences against property, drug-related crime and alcoholism are the most prevalent crimes in Dar es Salaam. Although not supported by statistics, the opinion survey provided some information on how people perceive the crime situation. Information on perceptions was useful for the Safer Cities project to assist the wards in prioritising their crime prevention strategies in relation to the most prevalent crimes. Despite differences of opinion, all leaders agreed that crime was on the increase and that local initiatives for crime prevention should be strengthened.

Police crime statistics were also used to highlight trends and patterns associated with the spatial distribution of crime. The project was aware that police statistics only provided part of the crime picture. These statistics, throughout the world, are limited to those incidents that the public choose to report to the police, and that the police, in turn, choose to record. Dar es Salaam is no exception in this regard and as a result of these limitations and the general lack of information about the victims of crime, the Safer Cities project decided to conduct a victim survey to help inform the development of local action plans.

Victim surveys not only help practitioners and the public to understand who is most affected by crime, but also which areas are affected, what assistance is required by victims and what the public think should be done to reduce and prevent crime. A victim survey was thus commissioned that included a street scan, household questionnaires, a mini-survey of female survivors of violence and a qualitative study on youth offenders. The surveys were conducted between March and May 2000. The methodology of the survey, as well as the results (with the exception of the youth offender study) are presented here.

The results of the survey were initially disseminated in Dar es Salaam during a two-day workshop. City residents were represented in the workshop by about 150 delegates from central and local (ward and subward) authorities, civil society organisations, private sector organisations, private security firms, residents’ associations, educational and religious organisations. The international community was also represented and the workshop was chaired by the regional commissioner of Dar es Salaam.

On the first day of the workshop, summarised results of the victim survey, the survey on violence against women and the youth offender study were presented. Participants discussed the research results and suggested recommendations on the way forward. The presentations were enriched by inputs from organisations already working on crime prevention projects in the city. These included Mtoni Sokoni, Kijitonyama Youth Project, the Manzese (CHAWAMATA) initiative and Timex private security company (block security system).

On the second day, workshop participants discussed what should be done and by whom to create an effective crime prevention partnership. The following resolutions were presented:

• Generally, workshop participants agreed that the crime survey results reflect the current situation in society.
  
  
• The report on the abuse of women was received with mixed feelings. Most reacted positively and called for more co-ordinated efforts to create awareness and support capacity-building initiatives to reduce violence against women.
  
  
• Participants agreed that each actor in society should play its role and drew up a list of tasks for each of the stakeholders involved at the level of the family, subward, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), central government and the international sector. Among these tasks were:
  
  
  • Safety and security and crime prevention should be a permanent item on the agenda in Mtaa meetings. Resolutions in respect of these issues should be endorsed by the ward and municipal development committee.
    
    
  • All ward executive officers should use the research results to guide their communities to prepare crime prevention plans in the next two months. The ward executive officers are currently preparing these plans with the technical support of Safer Cities. These will be consolidated into municipal action plans.
    
    
  • Legislation in support of crime prevention should be formulated and approved at central and local level. This should include the revision of regulations that conflict with crime prevention initiatives (such as child labour and laws that discriminate against women).
    
    
  • The central government should improve the capacity of the police through communication and training.

It was agreed to and emphasised by the deputy minister for Home Affairs that the resolutions should be implemented through the local authorities and that Safer Cities should take the lead. The regional commissioner, who is also the chairperson for safety and security issues at regional level, will follow up on this resolution.