Battle for ‘Mapalala land’

Mourners console the wife of fallen James Mapalala, Ms Hannah Mapalala (left), at her Oysterbay home in Dar es Salaam yesterday. PHOTOIERICKY BONIPHACE

Dar es Salaam. The death of Tanzania’s most democratic pioneer, James Mapalala, cut the reformist’s battle to regain his land, which was set as a collateral, when his friend, the late Mr Moses Maira, acquired $12,000 from one of the local banks.
Mr Mapalala’s son, Bernard James, said yesterday that the-then friend of his father, Mr Maira, who was a lawyer, wanted to take a loan of $12,000 from one of the country’s banks in 2002 when he reached to Mr Mapalala to ask if he (Maira) would use the former’s land as a collateral.
As fate would have it, Mr Maira died in 2009 before he was able to repay the loan something that led to the acquisition of Mr Mapalala’s land. There was the back and forth battle Mr Mapala led in attempt to get back his land, the attempts that would be futile until death found him at the age of 86.
“Soon after the death of Mr Mwaira, the bank officials came at our home, saying that the house is going to be auctioned so as to repay the deceased’s loan,” narrated Mr James yesterday.  “We had to struggle to get a court injunction to stop the sale of the house. We even reached out to the ministry of land but all of our efforts were futile.”
He said that one day, people arrived at the house, under the supervision of the armed police, and demolished the house and got away with properties which were in the house as well as important documents.
“This incident hurt my father greatly because this is the area some other buyers wanted to get it for up Sh750 million, but he refused for he wanted to establish a permanent settlement there. However, he was forced to sell for only Sh40 million because until that the time that was the value of his friend’s loan,” said Mr James.
This was a huge blow to Mr Mapalala, Mr James said. He always used to complain why no one came to help him in his battle to rescue his land despite the fact that he sacrificed a lot to help others.
“Even when on his deathbed, he frequently used to ask if the efforts to regain the land bore any fruit and he felt a pang of pain every time he receives a ‘no’ answer,” said Mr James.
When the bank finally sold the land at the price of Sh100, and asked Mr Mapalala to take the remaining Sh60 million after the bank had taken its Sh40 million, Mr Mapalala did not a penny.