Investigate land tribunals, Kairuki instructs PCCB
Lands, Housing, and Settlement Development deputy minister Angellah Kairuki discusses a point with Kilimanjaro regional commissioner Leonidas Gama at a meeting in Moshi on Monday. PHOTO | DANIEL MJEMA
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Ms Kariuki urged wananchi before the PCCB commander for Kilimanjaro Region Lawrence Swema to report a land tribunal chairperson with suspicious conduct.
Moshi. The government has directed the Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau (PCCB) to investigate the conduct of land tribunals countrywide.
Lands, Housing, and Settlement Development deputy minister Angellah Kairuki said there was evidence that some of the chairpersons and elders on the tribunals took bribes to deny those filing cases of their rights.
Ms Kariuki urged wananchi before the PCCB commander for Kilimanjaro Region Lawrence Swema to report a land tribunal chairperson with suspicious conduct.
“We’ve started to clean Dar es Salaam and are now moving up-country,” said the deputy minister when speaking to various leaders of the region, adding:
“PCCB officials if present here, many are said on land tribunals. We cannot tolerate seeing people entrusted with such key posts deny citizens of their rights,” she said.
Ms Kairuki said evidence indicated that some chairpersons of the land tribunals doubled as brokers and commissioned tasks to themselves contrary to the laws of the land.
She said organs responsible for investigation were working on plot number 51 belonging to Mawenzi Sports Club (MSC) Trustees Council to ascertain if some documents were forged as claimed.
“I was shocked when I heard in Parliament that even some deceased people have signed the documents,” the deputy minister said.
Shadow minister for the ministry Halima Mdee told Parliament recently that the ownership of the plot was null and void, for false documents were used in the process.
She said minutes of the MSC meeting held on January 5, 2008, indicated that former trustees Devchand Shah and Mohamed Sharif had attended it, but records showed Shah and Shariff died in 1979 and 1978 respectively.
On Monday, Dr Charles Mmbando, Moshi municipal deputy mayor, asked the deputy minister to give the local authorities time to clarify on the ownership of the plot.
Kilimanjaro regional commissioner Leonidas Gama said a team of experts he formed to investigate the saga had revealed that the plot belonged to the MSC, for a title deed which had expired 40 years ago had indicated so.
Ms Kairuki ordered the mayor and his team to clarify on the ownership of the plot yesterday when he was scheduled to receive nuisances pertaining to land from different people in the region.
