Duel in Morogoro as thieves of scrap thieves.

Serious after grave after grave in this cemetery in the eastern city of Morogoro de Tanzania has been destroyed.

In some, there is a gap in which once a metallic crucifix, in others, the religious symbol bends like the thieves, who hoped to sell it to discard merchants, try and could not eliminate it.

More than 250 have been attacked in a small section of the Municipal Cemetery of Kola Solo.

Crimes occur mainly at night when there is no security, there are no cemetery workers.

They have left devastated families and sites desecrated, causing anger.

For more than two decades, Podensiana Chumbi has been going to the cemetery approximately once a month to visit the tombs of her daughter and her mother, and her anguish has been desecrated in recent years, several times.

The first to be attacked was his mother who had died in 2000.

A few months after the family had saved to replace the stolen cross at the end of 2021, his daughter’s tomb was damaged. He was close and a little older: his daughter had died in 1997 at age 15.

Before Mrs. Chumbi could make a decision about fixing her daughter’s cross, for her horror, the new cross was slid in her mother’s tomb.

In a dilemma about what to do next, he felt that the metal was not an option when he was about replacing his daughter’s cross.

“This is my son’s tomb, my fourth son,” he said pointing to the concrete cross.

The theft of crosses and tomb markers has become a disturbing trend in this part of Tanzania driven by the growing demand for scrap.

“The people who do this are damn because everyone is sad about what is happening,” Chumbi tells the BBC.

“There are some young men who now demand payment to protect tombs during the night, especially those with tiles.”

The tiles can also be sold so that people use it as decorations in their home.

Augustine Remmy, Mrs. Chumbi’s brother, says she is upset for the entire community.

“This is a pity … when these areas that deserve respect are subject to such bad acts, it really hurts a lot,” he tells the BBC.

The eruption of robberies reflects despair among some to earn some money that annuls ethical concerns about harmful sacred sites.

Criminals can win somewhere between 700 and 870 Chelines Tanzanian ($ 0.27- $ 0.34; £ 0.22- £ 0.28) per kilogram.

It is not a lot of money, but it may be enough to pay a plate of a seller or some local elaborate alcohol.

“Metal distributors often buy without asking questions,” says a man who admitted in the BBC that he had stolen crosses from a cemetery to sell in the junk market.

Accepting to speak in anonymity condition, describe how the thieves would first go to the welders who cut the crossings into pieces before taking them to waste merchants.

The merchants themselves face the option to buy cheaper stolen goods or follow the law.

Izire Ramadhani, a concessionaire in the center of the city of Morogoro, remembers how in 2023 he, along with some other junk merchants, caught someone trying to sell a stolen cross and reported it to the authorities.

“In the past, they used to bring us crosses. But then we took one of them to the police, and then it was sentenced to three and a half years in prison; after that, the robbery was reduced, but now that has returned,” Mr. Ramadhani tells BBC.

He insists that he does not buy stolen products.

“If a cross is brought here, the person who comes to sell will be in trouble because we will take him to the police.”

The thieves have also begun to go to other tomb markers such as tiles and marble decorations, which can be easily sold to other buyers.

Dr. Ndimile Kilatu, Morogoro Health Officer, said the city authorities planned to improve cemetery security by introducing fences and guards, but warned that “this requires resources and time.”

“It’s not something we can do today or tomorrow.”

He also mentioned initiatives to educate scrap distributors about the materials that should not be purchased, such as score of tombs and rail components.

In response to crimes, the Government of Tanzania has also promised to regulate the scrap industry.

Vice -Prime Minister Dotto Biteko has emphasized the need for licensed companies to adhere to laws and regulations.

“What is required is only to enforce that and keep the population educated on the same subject. We will continue to educate our people so that our infrastructure is safe,” he told the BBC.

Religious leaders are also appealing to their communities do more to prevent those involved in these crimes from taking them.

Pastor Steven Msigara of the meetings of God of Jesus in Morogoro has asked for a united effort to educate young people about the need to respect the sacred places.

“Together, we must restore their dignity, we know that some young people are exposed to bad acts, but we can return them to the right path,” he says.

For the relatives of those whose tombs have been desecrated, there is a feeling of frustration.

Mrs. Chumbi wants more money on security in cemeteries, as well as a commitment to care for sites carefully with a place where loved ones are buried.

She is in the process of replacing her mother’s cross for the second time, and, as in the case of her daughter, she is opting for concrete.