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By Lucas Liganga
The Citizen Chief Reporter
 Dodoma. Prime Minister Mizengo Pinda had to move in and save the ministry of Lands, Housing and Human Settlement Development after MPs overwhelmingly signalled that they would oppose its budget yesterday. Almost all of the 25 MPs who contributed to parliamentary debate on the ministry’s budget vowed to block it if they did not get answers on the land disputes pitting the government against the people across the country.
The premier stepped into the fray as MP after MP gave the impression that they would throw out the budget. But they had seemingly had a change of mind when it came to the vote, saving minister Anna Tibaijuka from having to work some more on the proposals.
The prime minister moved quickly to allay MPs’ fears over land grabbing by assuring them that the government’s lease system guarantees that no one person can wholly own land in the country.“This is one thing that the government should be praised for,” the prime minister said. “No one can own land in this country and we have said that, come what may, we will not budge on this.”
He added, however, that while there were areas where land is a critical issue, there was ample land in other areas that people were free to move into. “We should not fear to welcome investors in land if such investment will be beneficial for the country,” pleaded Mr Pinda.
Mr Pinda stood after the lands deputy minister, Mr Goodluck ole Medeye, tried to explain a number of issues during the evening session.Efforts to save the budget started immediately after the morning session, when Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) MPs held a caucus meeting to do what some observers called an attempt to “soften the ruling party’s MPs stance to oppose the budget proposals”.
Negotiations went on when deputy Speaker of the National Assembly, Mr Job Ndugai, adjourned the morning session with the House resuming business at 4pm. Mr Pinda had a chat with Prof Tibaijuka and her lieutenants inside the House Chamber.This is the third budget in which the premier has had to intervene. The first time, he withdrew the Energy and Minerals Budget and asked Parliament for three weeks to prepare emergency plans to deal with power rationing.
The MPs rejected budget proposals for the ministry of Energy and Minerals last month, forcing the prime minister, who is head of government business in Parliament, to postpone it to August 13, when the government pumped in Sh1.2 trillion for short, medium and long term power generation aimed at easing the power crisis that has left the economy bleeding.
In addition, the MPs rejected budget proposals for the ministry of Transport, prompting the cabinet to convene an emergency meeting that authorised an additional budget of Sh95 billion.
Winding up her ministry’s budget estimates, Prof Tibaijuka sounded a stern warning to land owners who have not developed their plots. She said the government would repossess all land that has been left idle for a long time.
The minister warned investors who were given land by the government only to lease it to other people that they were violating the law and the ministry’s lawyers were prepared to take legal action against them.
She urged parliamentarians to put aside their political differences in dealing with land conflicts and town planning issues. She added: “After the Bunge session, we will hold meetings with Dar es Salaam MPs to chart ways to address the persisting land conflicts in Dar es Salaam…I will also spearhead discussions which will be aimed at ending land conflicts in Chasimba, Bagamoyo and other parts of the country. I only need cooperation.”
Debating the budget estimates earlier, MPs asked Prof Tibaijuka to explain how her ministry intended to resolve land disputes across the country. Some MPs were concerned that the Sh47.8 billion budget to be allocated to the ministry was not enough to implement the many projects she catalogued when tabling her budget proposals on Monday.
There were concerns that the minister had started tackling corrupt land deals with zeal but she had seemingly lost momentum. Ms Halima Mdee (Kawe-Chadema) said: “When you were appointed to the lands portfolio, you worked very hard to deal with questionable land allocations but that speed has been slowed down by forces beyond your control.”
Ms Mdee’s observations were echoed by Ms Pauline Gekul (Special Seats-Chadema) who said: “The minister is not working the way she used to when she was appointed to lead the ministry. She might have been silenced by big shots who own large chunks of land.”
Mr Mussa Zungu Azzan (Ilala-CCM) vowed to resign from his parliamentary seat if government did not involve local residents in plans to turn Jangwani and Mchikichini into recreational gardens.
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