New details emerge as widow regains title deed in plot row

The dispute involved Mrs Haule and businessman Mohamed Yusufali, and led to her eviction from the house on September 23, 2025, by unidentified individuals.

Mrs Haule maintained that she and her late husband, Justice Rugaibula, had owned the house since 2008 and not Mr Yusufali.

However, Mr Yusufali’s lawyer, Mpwaga Bernard, said the matter was still before the court.

 “The case is scheduled for hearing on October 28, 2025. Both parties were directed to file their defences,” he said.

Mrs Haule’s lawyer, however, said they plan to withdraw the case, having achieved the desired outcome through the administrative process.

Speaking on behalf of the ministry’s Permanent Secretary, the Assistant Land Commissioner for Dar es Salaam, Shukurani Kyando, said the investigation followed directives issued by the RC two weeks earlier.

He said the team reviewed documents, interviewed witnesses and analysed the entire ownership process of the property.

 “The team followed up on ministry records, court files, and statements from more than eight witnesses involved since 2011,” Kyando said.

According to the report, the ownership trail began in 1999, when Bariki Elisante Keenja owned the plot. It was later sold to Quality Real Estate Ltd in 2007 and transferred to Justice Rugaibula in 2008.

Records show that in 2011, Justice Rugaibula transferred ownership to Yusufali in a Sh262.5 million sale agreement.

However, tribunal records revealed that Mrs Haule had filed a caveat in October 2012, objecting to the sale on grounds that her husband had attempted to sell their matrimonial home without her consent.

“The committee found that despite the caveat, the title had already been transferred to Yusufali in 2011,” Kyando said.

The probe also established that two agreements existed, a Sh150 million loan contract and a Sh262.5 million sale agreement, both involving the same property. The committee found that none of the loan-related transactions had been reported to the ministry.

A lawyer who drafted the documents told investigators he never saw Mrs Haule sign them.

 “He said he only handed the papers to her husband, who later returned them signed in her name,” Kyando said.

The investigation further revealed inconsistencies in the spousal consent document, which bore both a handwritten signature and a thumbprint, contradicting the lawyer’s stamped version.

On the eviction, the report noted that no court or official order authorised the action. It urged the government to act against individuals and firms that violate property laws and warned citizens to avoid informal property transactions.

Based on its findings, the committee recommended that ownership of the house be restored to Mrs Haule as the legal administrator of her late husband’s estate.

Expressing gratitude, Mrs Haule said: “I thank the committee and the Regional Commissioner for following this matter step by step until justice was served for me and my four children.”

Mr Chalamila ordered Yusufali to appear before his office within five days, saying he had ignored several summonses.

 “On the day bouncers evicted this woman, he was present. Now that things have become difficult, he is no longer in the country,” the RC said.

He urged citizens to handle inheritance matters legally to prevent family conflicts, noting that emotional decisions often hurt future generations.