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Kwembe villagers: We are not quitting.
2006-02-13 08:07:33
By Pacifique Nkeshimana
Residents of Kwembe village in Dar es Salaam yesterday refuted a statement made by Deputy Minister for Lands and Human Settlement Development Ritha Mlaki, saying no agreement was reached to compensate them, following a dispute with the government, on the construction of premises for Muhimbili University College of Health Sciences( MUCHS) on their 3 800 hectares of land.
Abubakari Planta, a Kwembe villager who is also chairman of the committee that is following up the matter, criticised the deputy minister for saying the villagers had illegally invaded the land.
’We do not understand the statement of our Member of Parliament. When she was District Commissioner, she encouraged us to build permanent houses here in the village but now she calls us invaders,’he complained, adding that Mlaki should apologise for telling Parliament that the villagers had agreed on compensation.
In an interview with The Guardian, another local resident Cosmas Mbepela said that the residents of Kwembe, Mroganzila, King’azi, Kisopwa and Kipera have been living in the area since the 1950’s and that the village was officially registered in 1974 with a serial number VIJ 41 DSM.
’We are not leaving the area. We have been living here for many years. Mlaki now calls us invaders after we elected her to Parliament,’ he said.
He said that the deputy minister had to visit the village herself and show them the boundaries of the village, adding that they did not recognise land owned by Tanganyika Packers Limited (TPL) .
’ We do not know how Tanganyika Packers limited. comes in. What we know is that,in 1977, some people gave 10 hectares of their land to KABIMITA company, for digging a water pond for cattle.
The company, however, failed to pay 120 people who owned the land,’ he said .
An angry widow, Fatuma Abdallah said that she has been living in Kwembe for many years on her 3 hectares farm.
’ We did not strike any deal with the government. We do not have anywhere to go! Mlaki (Deputy Minister) has lied to Parliament, we never accepted to be compensated,’ she said.
She appealed to President Jakaya Kikwete, saying he should visit the village to listen to the 10,000 villagers, who are being asked to leave an area they had occupied since 1950.
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