Another
big land clashes is escalating between the villagers of Galangala
village, Basutu ward, Hanang district in Manyara region and illegal
invaders of the former Basutu plantations in the ward, the Mirror digest
can reveal.
Recently more
than 700 irate villagers stormed into the former Basutu plantations
distributing the land among themselves with the maim of forcing out what
they called “illegal occupiers” of the land in the ward.
The
villagers said, their move follows illegal acquisition of their land by
a huge number of business tycoons and government officials from in and
outside the district, something which denies the local residents their
right to own land.
However,
they have vowed to leave no stone unturned against any foreigner
investor who would resist from getting out of the plantations.
In
a telephone interview with the angry villagers, they said, since the
Basutu plantations were abandoned in the 1990’s, the villagers have
witnessed a huge number of business tycoons and other government
officials illegally occupying the land and distributing among themselves
while the villagers had serious shortage of land.
Speaking
to this reporter, one of the villagers Martha Laurent said that the
illegal occupiers of their land come from Karatu, Singida, Dongobeshi,
and other places.
The
Basutu Plantations have very fertile land which is suitable for wheat
agriculture, but the poor villagers said they have never benefited
because they cannot afford to buy because they have no money.
“These
rich people are flocking here on daily basis and we only see them
buying huge chunks of lands without consulting the villagers” she said.
She
added that they have decided to distribute the land among themselves,
between 20 to 30 hectares of lands each, in a bid to prevent the jobless
youth from becoming criminals due to lack of land which is number one
employment opportunity in rural areas .
When
contacted for comments, the village Chairman, Ibrahim Orii distanced
himself from the shoddy land deals, blaming the business tycoons instead
for not following proper process and procedures of land acquisition.
“I
understand that any investor must approach the village council for
recommendations and their requests are brought to the village assembly
for approval. But I have never seen any investor following these
procedures. I only see them distributing among themselves the land” he
said.
The district authorities could not be reached to comment on the matter. However, efforts to get them are underway.
In
recent years, Tanzania has witnessed a series of land conflicts caused
by foreigner investors, some of which have resulted into deaths of
innocent civilians.
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