Prime
What Kisanga team found out on MV Bukoba tragedy
What you need to know:
- The Belgian-built ferry capsized near Karumo Island on Lake Victoria, 56km from Mwanza, killing over 700 people on board
Dar es Salaam. One of the celebrated legal professionals in Tanzania is Justice Robert Habesh Kisanga, whose biography was launched last week to tell his story.
Justice Kisanga, who died in 2018, was one of the five founding members of the Court of Appeal in Tanzania in 1979 and served on various committees and presidential commissions.
He enjoyed the trust of the government, but that did not compromise his capacity to tell the truth, which angered the authorities. Justice Kisanga chaired the White Paper Committee that was formed in 1998 to collect public opinion on the constitutional reforms.
The team proposed a three-government system in Tanzania—an idea that was opposed by the government.
Kisanga also chaired the Commission of Investigation into the Casualties Involving MV Bukoba in 1996. It had been formed to probe the cause of the capsizing of the passenger and cargo ship MV Bukoba.
On May 21, 1996, the MV Bukoba capsized just 30 minutes before arriving at Mwanza Port.
The Belgian-built ferry capsized near Karumo Island on Lake Victoria, 56km from Mwanza, killing over 700 people on board.
The ferry operated by the Tanzania Railways Corporation (TRC) was known for carrying passengers and cargo between the ports of Bukoba and Mwanza.
It had a capacity of 850 tonnes of cargo and 433 passengers, but on the fateful day, it was overloaded with about 1,000 passengers on board. According to media reports, only 114 people survived the accident.
Kisanga team’s report
Justice Kisanga’s team released its report on September 6, 1996, which accused the TRC of gross negligence, inefficiency and corruption, according to the book titled Dream Coming to Fruition: A Biography of Justice Robert Habesh Kisanga, published by the Institute of Judicial Administration Lushoto.
The report accused TRC’s Maritime Division of operating the vessel without due care. The vessel had a long-standing stability problem and yet it was overloaded. The report also added that there was improper storage of cargo and inadequate ballasting.
“….the report blamed the government for buying a defective ship, although this was partially because of a lack of expertise on the Tanzanian side and the crisis in lake shipping caused by the collapse of the East African Community’s lake streamer services. This placed Tanzania in a weak bargaining position with the shipbuilders,” states the book.
The Belgian Shipbuilders (BSC) were also blamed for supplying a vessel that did not correspond to the specifications and for not giving the users adequate guidelines on the delicate handling of the ship.
The report also described the failure of the Belgian government to finance the promised rehabilitation of the ship as regrettable.
The Belgian government refused to pay compensation to the accident victims, stating that the shipbuilders, who are believed to have gone out of business, were responsible.
As one of the outcomes of the report, the director of public prosecutions commenced criminal charges against a number of people connected to the tragedy in 1997.
Kisanga stance
Justice Kisanga is remembered for his stance, which legal experts describe as faithfulness and commitment to dispensing justice in courts.
The devoted Christian allowed his personal ethics to influence his judgments. He served as one of the church elders of the Lutheran Church at Msasani Parish and other places where he lived.
