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By Sturmius Mtweve and Fariji Msonsa
The Citizen Reporters
Dar es Salaam. Dar es Salaam flood victims begun yesterday to count days in what would hopefully be their permanent homes at Mabwepande following a government exercise to relocate them from flood prone Jangwani, Kigogo and Msimbazi valleys in the city.
As they stepped out to make the journey, some of the nearly 4,000 displaced victims were pondering their fate even as they appeared resigned to losing investments worth millions of shillings in the valleys.
From the grandeur of their well-tended mansions to the virtual wilderness that is 200 acres of empty land being sub-divided among the affected landlords, some heads of displaced families told The Citizen on Sunday how their lives have been shattered and that it would be difficult to adjust to their new status.Haunting most of them is the fact that they will be required to build new houses from scratch, and without hope for any assistance.
For many who spent years of toiling to put up the magnificent, even simple structures they called home, the turn of events meted by floods would forever be etched in their minds.
This is the case with Ms Ally Mambi, a retired nurse of over 55 years and formerly of Jangwani. She is currently ailing her sick husband, also a retired civil servant and fending for their 10 children.
She is at complete loss over the order to demolish the family’s Sh50 million worth of a house and move to the empty fields.
If houses were movable, she would have grabbed hers. A yellow painted house, built on a slight hill, only a roof can be seen from a distance. But as you come closer, you will discover its beauty.
She and her husband invested their retirement benefits in the home. “When my husband–a former national intelligence worker retired in 2006, we decided to build at the invitation of my mother-in-law,” says Ms Mambi, adding that there was no warning given at the time they were building – that the area was prohibited for human settlement, neither had she had an idea about it.
Though she is ready to obey the government’s order; she is not sure whether they are going to survive or die at Mabwepande. “I will leave this place, but I don’t know if I will manage living in a tent and for how long I know tents are just temporary means of accommodation, but since I currently have no way of raising funds, I can’t predict what will come next,” says Ms Mambi.
She wishes she could influence the government to do something; at least a slight batch of cash, enough for a little shelter. “A piece of land is not enough because I think the panel may consider neither the size of the family nor the house value. I think we need financial support to re-establish new houses. It is likely to take us several years of our lives,” she says.
Ms Mambi terms last year’s flooding as one among the worst experience she has ever had in her life.
“I have not come to terms that this house is to be demolished.”
Not far away in Mchikichini, is another palatial home belonging to the Komba family. Here, Ms Moza Komba, 52, says even though they were happy to have escaped death, the journey ahead was likely to demand more of their left energy.
Ms Komba says she first settled at Mchikichini in early 1990s. And since that time, she had never witnessed such floods. A businesswoman, she has lived here for 19 years and the reality of demolishing her more than Sh60 million home is too much to talk about.
She also blames the state for not doing enough for the past years to halt any developments in the valley.
“We had no right information when buying and establishing settlements at this place, we have done all these ignorantly –and we are casting all our blames to the government which has failed to set a convenient system of communicating with its citizens on whatever it does,” says Ms Komba.It took her a number of years collecting resources from her business to build her dream house.
She started by opening a car wash bay and later ventured into dala dala business, which earned her some income.
She is however lucky than others in that she has other rental houses elsewhere to cling to rebuild her life.
“If I would have been told by someone that there were floods here, I’m sure I would have been the first to oppose the move by the government to relocate us.But, the way I saw this year’s floods, I have nothing to do–but move to save my life,” says Ms Komba as she recounts.
She appeals that the state immediately establishes all the basic social services at Mabwepande for those who are going there.“It has been and it will continue to be a challenge to many of us after relocating from this place because people have been building in consideration to the location of their businesses and working places,” says Ms Komba.
The same situation faces Mr Abdillahi Salum Utali–a former employee of Saxon Building Company, and, who is currently dealing with his own businesses within Dar es Salaam and Southern regions of Lindi and Mtwara.
He settled at Msimbazi in 1992–after collecting some cash from his employment and bought a plot in which he built a house for his family. He says by the time he bought and established settlement he did not see any signs or warning that indicated the area was prohibited by the government. “The government has continued being silent all this long. And, we have continued establishing our settlements here until when this incident occurred,” says Mr Utali, adding that, “I have spent number of years and a lot of money, which when I think of moving out of this place I feel distressed.”
Mr Utali, with his seven family members says the occurrence has made all the people in the concerned areas refugees in their own country.
“I’m quite sure, now we are psychologically affected. We need to settle down before we initiate any plans for resettlement,” he says.
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