Shock as houses demolished to pave the way for a new road

Dar es Salaam. Some residents of Kibamba Ward in Ubungo District, Dar es Salaam Region, yesterday said they have been shocked by demolition of their houses executed by the Tanzania National Roads Agency (Tanroads).

Their shock came because the exercise has been implemented without considering the pending case filed by citizens to challenge the intention to vandalise the buildings claimed to have been built inside the road reserve.

But, in a quick rejoinder, Tanroads regional manager Haroun Senkuku confirmed to have carried the exercise after expiry of the notice that required them to relocate to pave the way for the road construction projects.

“Most of them had completed shifting their properties voluntarily including a primary school that had to demolish teacher’s residential buildings,” he said.

He said the process was participatory in different levels from the district, ward to streets levels, noting that after the project got the contractor and funds was availed, the only challenge remained was the relocation of residents.

Regarding cemeteries located close to the road, Mr Senkuku said every property that deserve compensation would be compensated, refuting claims that there were a pending case at the court.

But, residents told The Citizen that the demolition exercise started on Monday this week in order to pave the way for the road expansion from the school junction to Mpiji Magoe.

The Citizen team arrived in the area and found people in groups continuing to witness the demolition exercise taking place while others were trying to salvage some of their belongings as a bulldozer continued to tear down properties claimed to have been constructed in the road reserve.

Mr Abubakari Ngati, a resident and the ten-cell leader of the area, said the other day at around 8pm, people who identified themselves as Tanroads workers arrived in their area and asked them to remove their belongings from their houses, for them to demolish.

“When we queried on why they wanted to do that while our case was still pending, they responded by claiming not to recognise the case,” said Mr Ngati.

Another resident, Juma Kajembe, said the notice that wanted them to vacate the area was issued by Tanroads last year. However, they filed a court injunction against the demolition exercise, claiming that the area was their property.

“The case dragged on and later Tanroads asked for it to be moved to the court of arbitration so that we could reach a compromise. We attended the arbitration on August 25, this year, and required to come back on September 2 this month. So, we are now surprised, this action has been taken place even before the court’s decision,” said Kajembe.

Another affected resident, who identified himself by one name of Karimu, claimed that the Tanroads workers arrived in their area and started demolishing their houses without even showing them the court’s permits that allowed them to execute the exercise.

“They did not show us the permits, they just came to our houses from which they asked us to remove our belongings for the demolition exercise to be conducted, now we fail to understand whether this decision is of their own or has been made by the court,” said Karim.