Electricity project on despite Kakobe

By Erick Mchome

The government said yesterday that the laying of a high-voltage power line in front of the Full Gospel Bible Fellowship (FGBF) church in Dar es Salaam would go ahead as planned.

The FGBF head, Bishop Zachary Kakobe, could not immediately be reached for comment yesterday after previously vowing that he and his followers were ready to shed blood in their quest to stop the building of the line outside the church.

Energy and Minerals minister William Ngeleja said Tanzania Electric Supply Company (Tanesco) had been given the go-ahead to construct the 132-kilovolt line, which is to pass a few metres from the FGBF church in Mwenge.

He told a packed press conference in his office that the government had approved the Sh34 billion project funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), and that there would be no backtracking in its implementation.

Mr Ngeleja said the matter had been handled to the satisfaction of all parties involved in the dispute, adding that “emotions” should not be allowed to interfere with national development.

He added that the project would help to reduce the frequency of power cuts in Dar es Salaam.The project entails the building of a power line from the main Ubungo station to a new substation in Makumbusho.

It was also revealed yesterday that the standoff had raised
the cost of the project by Sh25 million that was spent on hiring consultants to study the project and give technical advice on claims by FGBF that the power line would interfere with its television station and affect people praying at the church.

Mr Ngeleja said Bishop Kakobe and other interested parties had been involved and informed of the final decision reached on Saturday following a marathon meeting and a tour of the disputed area by the minister.

The minister said findings of a technical report compiled by the Bureau for Industrial Cooperation (Bico) were considered in arriving at the decision. The report, he said, showed that there would be no harm to the FBGF faithful if the transmission line was erected near the church.

“Unfortunately, Bishop Kakobe did not agree with Bico’s findings, so we had to leave the boardroom and go to the site and see for ourselves,” Mr Ngeleja said.

The government had considered Bishop Kakobe’s claim that the Church’s planned television station would be adversely affected by the Tanesco project.

“We have to have evidence, but no application for a licence to establish a television station has been submitted to TCRA (Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority) by Bishop Kakobe,” Mr Ngeleja said, adding that no one was certain whether a licence would be granted even if an application were to be submitted.

On why the line was not being built on the wide area separating the four lanes of the newly upgraded Sam Nujoma Road, Mr Ngeleja said the area was reserved for the rapid transit bus project.

Bishop Kakobe appeared to have climbed down from his hardline position on Saturday, saying he would not continue to fight the government.

The fiery cleric said he had asked the government to consider his request for a proper location of the Church’s planned television station.He said FGBF followers had raised Sh800 million for building the station.

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