We’ll take back idle farms, says minister
Deputy minister for Lands, Housing and Human Settlements Development George Simbachawene .PHOTO|FILE
What you need to know:
The villagers have requested the ministry of Lands to have 3,897.01 hectares sliced from the estate and handed to the village whose population has been increasing. Mr Salim said that they had no problem with the sisal estate owner and all they wanted was the 3,897.01 hectares for their development.
Tanga, Deputy minister for Lands, Housing and Human Settlements Development George Simbachawene has reiterated the government’s intention to repossess sisal estates that have not been developed since they were privatised. He said the farms formerly owned by Tanzania Sisal Authority would be distributed to people who do not have enough land.
Speaking at Kwangena in the Mjesani Sisal Estate in Mkinga District, Mr Simbachawene said that those who acquired the estates during the privatisation in the late 1990s have broken their contracts by keeping the land idle. “We will take over the estates and distribute the land to wananchi who need them,” Mr Simbachawene told the villagers, who are embroiled in a conflict with the owners of the estate, Mohamed Enterprises.
According to the Ward Executive Officer, Mr Bakari Salim, the village situated in the 22,702-acre estate was established in 1939. It was registered in 1976 and was surveyed in 2007.
The villagers have requested the ministry of Lands to have 3,897.01 hectares sliced from the estate and handed to the village whose population has been increasing. Mr Salim said that they had no problem with the sisal estate owner and all they wanted was the 3,897.01 hectares for their development. “We need your assistance to get the land so that we can get the title deed so that issuing of customary land title deeds can proceed,” said District Land Officer Paulo Nkelege. He appealed to the deputy minister to take action.
He assured residents of Kwangena village that they would not be thrown out of the estate, where they have lived for several decades. He added: “Nobody is going to move from here. This is a village that is in the government register. You are here to stay. I ask the District Security and Defence Committee to protect the villagers and make sure they are not harassed by anyone.”
He said that the government was currently in the process of legalising their settlement by revoking the title deed and giving the villagers a title deed for the land they have earmarked.
