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Ownership saga of Tanzania’s Ngorika bus deepens as scrap sale allegations emerge
What you need to know:
- As the family pursues an appeal, the reported disappearance and scrapping of the two buses has added a new twist to the ongoing ownership saga, with calls for a formal investigation into the fate of the disputed vehicles.
Moshi. The ownership wrangles surrounding the Ngorika bus company have resurfaced, with fresh allegations by a family member claiming that two of the company’s buses have been dismantled and sold off as scrap metal.
Mr Charles Mberesero, who serves as chairman of the board of trustees for the Ally Mberesero Foundation and a member of the family that owns Ngorika, alleged that the buses—part of a fleet at the centre of a protracted legal battle—were secretly scrapped despite being under dispute.
Speaking yesterday, May 25, 2025, Mr Mberesero said the buses were supposed to be parked at the company’s designated lot in Kisangara, Mwanga District, as ordered by the court, but were instead found stored at a family residence in Soweto, Moshi Municipality.
“We are in the process of filing an appeal. If the buses are being cut up, that amounts to destruction of evidence. We are calling on law enforcement authorities to intervene,” he said.
Mr Mberesero further claimed that two of the ten disputed buses, previously seen parked along Boma Road, are now missing, with family members informed that they were dismantled and sold as scrap.
“About three or four days after the court ruling, I received word that the two buses parked outside the Capricorn yard—formerly Ngorika’s depot—had begun being scrapped. We still don’t know who is behind it,” he added.
However, former Ngorika manager Mr Kapesa Mberesero, who was the respondent in Civil Case No. 2 of 2022 filed by the company, dismissed the allegations, insisting the buses in question remain intact and are currently parked at Kisangara.
“No Ngorika bus has been moved or dismantled. They are all at the Kisangara parking yard,” he said.
In its original suit, the company had asked the court to compel Mr Kapesa to return ten company buses, a Toyota Land Cruiser, a motorcycle, and other assets in good condition. Alternatively, the firm sought Sh1.27 billion in compensation—equivalent to the value of the assets—along with proceeds from bus operations between December 2015 and January 2022.
Additionally, the company sought an order requiring Mr Kapesa to pay Sh750 million in unremitted earnings from the bus business and a further Sh500 million in damages.
However, on March 24, 2025, High Court Judge Safina Simfukwe dismissed the case. On the question of whether the respondent retained any company property, the judge said the matter had already been adjudicated by the High Court’s Commercial Division in a 2019 judgment.
“The complaint that the defendant collected capital to start Capricorn bus company cannot stand, as the plaintiff failed to prove that the defendant holds any property belonging to the plaintiff in this case,” the judge ruled.
As the family pursues an appeal, the reported disappearance and scrapping of the two buses has added a new twist to the ongoing ownership saga, with calls for a formal investigation into the fate of the disputed vehicles.
