This archive report was first published on 3 August 2020.
On May 21, 2004, a daring heist took place at the National Bank of Commerce (NBC) in Moshi, Tanzania, leaving employees and customers shaken.
A group of men, disguised as ordinary customers, stormed the bank, brandishing sub-machine guns, pistols, and knives. They held the captives at gunpoint, searched them, and made off with their belongings.
The robbers then moved on to collect cash from the tellers' compartments and the strong room, stuffing it into polythene bags. A Toyota Land Cruiser was used to transport the stolen Sh252 million, which was then sped away.
Five Kenyans and one Tanzanian were arrested and charged with the offence. After a marathon trial, the six men were found guilty of armed robbery and sentenced to 32 years in jail.
However, their conviction was later quashed on appeal, with the Court of Appeal citing irregularities in identification and poor visual identification evidence. The sentence against three of them was also quashed.
On December 2015, the High Court upheld the conviction on the second count of armed robbery, but the sentence was later quashed on appeal.
On a recent decision delivered via video conference, a panel of three judges said the conviction of one of the accused was unsafe because the key witness was never called to testify.
