Dar police dragged into Petrofuel premises saga

Dar es Salaam. A prominent Dar es Salaam lawyer has written to the Dar es Salaam Special Police Zone Commander, to complain against police involvement in the “illegal eviction” of Petrofuel (T) Limited from its building mid last year.

Mr Masumbuko Lamwai is also asking for thorough investigations into the alleged illegal police involvement in the saga, warning that if left unchecked, the meddling by law enforcement agents would discourage investors.

Acting on behalf of Petrofuel (T) Limited, Mr Lamwai says in the letter that police did not follow proper procedures in evicting his client in a building, which he was operating from. The eviction took place mid last year.

Mr Lamwai has written the letter after noting that decisions reached during a meeting called by Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa on the same issue were not being followed.

The lawyer wondered why, after the Prime Minister’s meeting, Dar es Salaam police were hesitant to allow Petrofuel back to the building after it was discovered that the company had been evicted illegally.

“It should be made clear that the meeting (with the Prime Minister) was a result of complaints that had been made by M/S Petrofuel (T) Limited to Prime Minister regarding the ill-treatment of foreign investors by State organs,” says Mr Lamwai in the letter.

According to some documents seen by The Citizen, during the Prime Ministers’ meeting, it emerged that the police conceded that the eviction, in which members of the Field Force Unit (FFU) were used to kick out Petrofuel, was carried against the law.

And Mr Lamwai wonders why the police, even after noting that the eviction was illegal, were now hesitant to reverse their decision.

He said the entire process smacked of fraud involving members of the Police Force.

Mr Lamwai maintained that if the police had not assisted the company at the centre of the saga (name withheld), the eviction would not have taken place