30 days Eviction
By Kizito Makoye
Landlords will probably rub their hands with glee, because they will soon be
entitled to deal with rent defaulters following the passing of a new bill whose
implementation, however, remains enigmatic in the eyes of critics.
The new bill, pending the President’s assent, provokes a sigh of relief
particularly from the National Housing Corporation (NHC), which is entitled to
pursue ‘sound commercial principles’ along with other landlords who are tired of
hide and seek games with ‘unscrupulous’ tenants.
In essence the new bill means redemption to NHC, which might conceivably recover
allegedly Tsh. 9.5 billion in outstanding debts owed by its tenants over the
years.
With the passing of the new Bill, the landlords, particularly the NHC, might
have a sole prerogative to calculate and fix the amount of rent payable, unlike
previously where Regional Tribunals were mandated to determine and assess
‘standard rent’ from time to time.
Critics assert that the new Bill takes away the moral justification for the
existence of NHC, adding that NHC was established with the purpose of providing
shelter at an economic rate and not at a commercial rate.
“If the rent charged by NHC is at the same level as that charged by the private
landlord why not privatise NHC and make it run as a commercial organisation?,”
queried a reliable source.
The process of determining appropriate rent, according to the Bill, will take
into consideration all other expenses that the landlord might incur. These
expenses include property tax, repairs and insurance, but rent payable would
also consider the size, use, value and location of the premises.
The new Bill also proposed the repeal of the Rent Restriction Act of 1984, which
includes sections considered to be detrimental to the landlords and friendly to
the tenants.
Section 38 of the Rent Restriction Act stipulates that “Any landlords or his
agent or servant who wilfully subjects a tenant to any annoyance with the
intention of compelling the tenant to vacate the premises, or to pay, directly
or indirectly, a higher rent for the premises shall be liable to conviction by
the court, and sentenced to a fine not exceeding two thousand shillings, or to a
term of imprisonment not exceeding six months, or to both such fine and
imprisonment.”
The provisions in the new Bill, on the contrary, put forward the right of a
landlord to seize the goods of commercial tenants who breach the contract, for
failure to settle arrears of rent in respect of commercial premises.
Under the new law ‘commercial premises’ is taken to mean a building or part of a
building that has been let for business, trade or profession, or for purposes of
public service, including a dwelling house partly used as commercial premises.
The new Bill, however remains lenient to residential tenants, who will not be
distrained for breach of lease contract, such provisions, notwithstanding, will
not affect the right of a landlord to obtain a judgement for non-payment of
rent.
“The landlord may exercise any right to terminate a lease for failure to pay
rent due under the lease, or for a breach of any covenant or condition in the
lease,” reads section 17 (1) of the new Bill.
In the case of a tenant’s failure to pay overdue rent within 30 days of notice
being given, the lease contract will be terminated, meaning that the tenant will
be forced to quit the premises.
A recent study by the University of Dar es Salaam revealed that many low-income
landlords found it difficult and expensive to recover house rent from their
tenants, especially if they do not live in the premises concerned. The study
also disclosed that tenants are known to vacate the rented premises and
disappear, leaving behind huge unpaid dues, yet landlords can do little about
it.
In an interview with The Express last week, the Director General of NHC, Martin
Madekwe, said “It is absolutely right that the ‘Rent Restriction Act’ be
repealed, because it discouraged people from investing in real estate.”
He said the provisions in the ‘Rent Restriction Act’ limit the powers of the
landlord in taking charge of his property, since the tenants could refuse to pay
rent, yet the landlord could not evict him because of the protection.
He said, however, that any eviction will follow legal procedures, including
hiring a court broker, who will give the tenant an ultimatum to settle the
arrears, without which confiscation or eviction will take its course.
Attorney General Andrew Chenge is optimistic that new provisions will pave the
way for NHC to operate commercially, by addressing existing bureaucracy when
demanding rent, confronting the lack of a transparent system of fixing house
rent.
However strong the new Bill is, it looks rather fuzzy and hard to implement in
the eyes of critics and even of tenants themselves.
It is a stunning setback to tenants, considering that it is almost certain that
the Bill supplies the move aimed at providing a level ground for investment in
rental housing, without compromising the interests of landlords and tenants.
But some analysts say that it is the interests of businessmen which are being
safeguarded.
Issa Shivji, a Senior Lecturer with the Faculty of Law of the University of Dar
es Salaam, is against the new Bill because it has virtually taken away the
rights of a majority of Tanzanians who will no longer have protection against
being thrown out of their lodgings.
“The Rent Restriction Act was passed after independence, mainly to protect the
majority of tenants including workers, so that they do not go shelterless, now
the protection is being taken away in the interests of businessmen.”
“What is basically provided in the summary is sometimes different from the main
provisions of the Bill, unless I read the Bill thoroughly I am not in a position
to give you further comments,” he said
Many NHC tenants have expressed acrimony that the amendments in the law might
possibly pave the way for a violation of human rights. “It is totally
unacceptable to seize our belongings, it is us who take care of these apartments
the way you see them now,” said a tenant who sought anonymity.
A town planner and settlement analyst, Christopher Esau, said although the
landlords are now empowered by law, it is still very difficult to implement or
to exercise the privilege bearing in mind that the tenants are the ones who keep
the houses in order, if evicted they might demand all the expenses they had
incurred when renovating the houses, which the landlords might not be willing to
pay.
Prof. Lussuga Kironde, a consultant in Property and Urban Development says
“Public landlords such as NHC have suffered greatly from the existence of rent
control legislation, which required that the rent be determined by tribunals and
did not contain provision for rent reviews.”
TTCL:
Disconnected?
By The Express Reporter
For the last two days, Tanzania Telecommunications Company Limited (TTCL)’s
prepaid service customers have been cut off from service, due to a systems
failure. The failure, which is said to be the second to have occurred since TTCL
commenced the service in May last year, has affected all the customers of the
pre-paid phone service that comprises about 2,000 lines.
An investigation conducted by The Express revealed that the first systems
failure of the services had not been as bad as this second one, as it affected
only some of the customers.
TTCL pre-paid phone users have resorted to using mobile phones instead. The firm
is said to be losing over Tsh. 50 million per day.
A reliable source from within the firm confirmed to The Express that this
systems failure occurred on Tuesday but technicians were working round the clock
to try and restore the service.
“Our technicians in collaboration with Tanzania Eriksson, which is the company
that installed the system, are working hard to restore the service,” said the
source who preferred anonymity.
However, according to the source, the job of restoring the system was termed
“heavy”, and it was not immediately known when the work would be accomplished.
Efforts for this paper to reach spokespersons of TTCL proved futile, as all were
out of the offices or out of Dar es Salaam, while others were said to be
attending the parliamentary session in Dodoma.
Asked for comments, TTCL Communications Manager, Issa Semtawa said that he was
not aware of the problem as he was not in the office due to sickness. “I cannot
comment anything because I know nothing about the problem…I am sick... maybe I
have to ask about the problem,” he said.
Another source, who preferred anonymity, said that since its launch in May 2004,
pre-paid service has not picked up as expected with many people relying on
mobile phones, finding the no re-dialling option cumbersome.
At the time of going to press, no official statement from TTCL has been
released.
7,000 doctors lacking in
Tanzania
By Kizitto Joseph
Tanzania has a shortage of 7,000 doctors, if one follows the
standards set out by the World Health Organization (WHO).
Research by The Express reveals that Tanzania has not more than 1,800 doctors,
which means one doctor attends about 19,000 people. According to WHO, one doctor
should attend 4,000 patients.
Muhimbili National Hospital has a shortage of 101 doctors.
The Muhimbili National Hospital director for Administration, Reginald Masawe
said Muhimbili National Hospital is supposed to have 86 specialist doctors but
there are only 46. He said general practicioners needed are 169, while currently
they are 108.
He said doctors have been running away from local employment due to poor
payment. He said before the 2005/06 budget, a graduate doctor was paid Tsh.
200,000 per month. “This rate is under half the salary of a registered doctor in
Uganda and Kenya,” he said.
Failed
extraditions of suspects irritates Mkapa
By Heckton Chuwa, Moshi
President Benjamin Mkapa has expressed his disappointment following
the failure to arrest and extradite culprits in Kenya and Uganda, that they may
come and answer charges here concerning money theft from financial institutions.
President Mkapa said this early last week, in his speech during the opening of a
Regional Police Commanders’ seminar. He urged the police force to reinforce
their collaboration with their counterparts in neighbouring countries.
He mentioned recent incidents like the robberies in the Azikiwe Branch of the
CRDB bank in Dar es Salaam, and the Moshi branch of the NBC Ltd where billions
of shillings were stolen.
“Some of the stolen cash has been recovered. I have been very disappointed with
the failure to have some of the culprits arrested in the neighbouring countries
and extradited to face charges. But this should not discourage your efforts,” he
said.
Following the incident at the Moshi branch of NBC Ltd., police in Kilimanjaro
Region led by the Regional Police Commander SACP Mohamed Chico and the
Kilimanjaro Region Crimes Officer Hezron Kigondo succeeded in arresting more
than 20 suspects, four of them in Kenya and Uganda.
Despite their arrests, they were not extradited by the courts in the respective
countries.
Teachers must
not be DEOs’ pets
By Beldina Nyakeke, Musoma
Mara Region District Education Officers (DEOs) have been reprimanded
for promoting teachers through favouritism, and told to stop it. Instead they
should take into consideration the qualifications needed.
The directive was given by Mara Regional Education Officer (REO), Ramadhan
Chomola, when presenting a paper at a meeting of Musoma Rural District teachers.
Some education officers have been promoting teachers and giving them positions
of responsibilities against the Ministry of Education and Culture procedures, a
thing that has lowered educational achievements.
The REO directed teachers in the region not to get involved in political
affairs, in the runup to the October general elections, and asked them to
concentrate on their teaching duties.
LAPF
Millennium Towers to be inaugurated in style
By Express Reporter
President Benjamin Mkapa will tomorrow officiate at the inauguration
of the LAPF Millennium Towers building, located along Ali Hassan Mwinyi road in
Dar es Salaam.
The statement from LAPF Board of Trustees signed by its Director General, Alois
Bura, and made available to The Express yesterday, said the rental building
worth Tsh. 16.4 billion is estimated to be able to generate profit of Tsh. 1.4
billion per year, from the tenants who occupy 85 per cent of the space.
The statement said the multi-storey building consists of a 60 bedroom hotel,
offices, parking and a cafeteria.
It never rains
but it pours
By Merline Mhamaka, Mvomero
Inhabitants of Melela Ward in Mvomero District, Morogoro Region, are
facing food shortages after the torrential rains that fell in February caused
floods and the destruction of 123 acres of maize and rice.
Talking to The Express on Monday this week, ward residents said that out of the
123 acres, 86 acres were for maize and 37 acres were for rice.
Residents were forced to replant the crops on the same acreage; but failed to
harvest good crops as the rains stopped before the crops matured.
Another problem they face is from livestock herders who feed their animals on
the farms before crops are harvested. This has brought confrontations between
farmers and herders.
Ward Executive Officer, Salum Msonge, said the herders are disobedient for they
have been demarcated an area at Meela, but they have been migrating and entering
Melela Ward without permits from the ward officials, a thing that has
contributed to conflicts in the area.
Sympathy for
the lives of refugees
By Angela Mazula, recently in Handeni
The government of Tanzania in collaboration with the United Nations
High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has called upon society to give extra
support to refugees.
Hamisi Mberwa, told The Express during the World Refugees Day, held in Handeni
District at the Chogo Refugees Settlement, that refugees do benefit a lot from
the UNHCR. They are provided with schools and vocational training.
He said, however, that power was a problem at Chogo Settlement, and that the
available generator supplies electricity only to the dispensary, school, office,
police post and staff quarters.
He added that after UNHCR ceases to operate, there will be no power, and that
something has to be done about the issue.
“Unless something is done urgently, people will lose their lives because the
road that links the settlement to the main road is in a pathetic condition. In
the settlement no treatment can be undertaken without power,” he said
About the naturalisation of some Somali refugees he said: “We commend the
government of Tanzania for giving naturalization certificates to 44 families
with a total number of 189 persons.”
Candidate hopes to give voice
to disabled
By Hudson Kazonta, Dodoma
The exercise of collecting nomination forms for councillors’ seats
for the CCM is coming to an end. In Dodoma Rural District, a disabled youth has
committed himself to competing for one seat.
Petro Alexander Mwaluko (29) has one short foot, and has picked up the forms in
Igandu Ward, hoping that he will win the election if he is chosen to contest the
seat on the CCM ticket.
His decision to run for a councillor’s seat came after the government’s failure
to arrange special seats for the disabled. If he gets elected he will try to
influence the government in this matter.
“I am young, but I am sure that I have the ability to lead and bring development
to the residents of Igandu Ward. I feel I have the support of the youth,” he
said.
Petro said that because many residents of Igandu Ward depend on the agricultural
sector, he would make sure that the number of oxen is increased and that people
are able to change from using a hand hoe and to start using animals when
cultivating.
Biotechnology
not without hazards
By Timothy Kitundu
Tanzania is in its second phase of implementing the National
Biosafety Framework (NBF), which will act as a regulator once the country fully
adopts modern biotechnology.
Julius Enock of the Vice President’s Office, Division of the Environment,
recently told a stakeholders’ workshop on the status of genetic engineering and
seed security in Tanzania that the second phase will focus on human and physical
resources.
He said, modern biotechnology has the potential to improve human and animal
health, agriculture, industrial and agricultural production as well as
environmental protection.
However, he added, the development and applications of modern biotechnology have
been associated with both opportunities and concerns over the risks of
Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) to human and animal health, biodiversity
and the environment.
“These and other concerns have raised the necessity of putting in place the NBF,
a necessity which emerged as one of the priorities following the adoption of the
Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety in 2003,” he said.
NBF has a number of objectives, including establishing a science-based, holistic
and integrated, efficient, transparent and participatory administrative and
decision-making system, so that Tanzania can benefit from modern biotechnology
while avoiding or minimizing the inherent risks of it.
“The other objective is to ensure that the research, development, handling,
transboundary movement, transit, use, release and management of GMOs are
undertaken in a manner that prevents or reduces risks to human, animal health,
biological diversity and the environment,” he added.
In addressing challenges and the way forward, Enock said that arguably, in order
to conduct work of a highly technical nature, such as modern biotechnology,
caution has to be exercised not to perpetuate economic dependency without the
local capacity to deal with it.
Concert and
dinner for Buigiri Blind School
By Express Reporter
There is a school for blind and partially-sighted youngsters near to
Dodoma, which has been established for many years as a charitable institution,
and which attempts to give as much independence as possible by training these
youngsters.
On Thursday, 30th June, which is to say today, a concert will be held at the
International School of Tanganyika to help the Buigiri Blind school, at 7.00pm.
It is a world-famous pianist, Phillip Dyson, who will be giving this concert
(see programme in advertisement on page thirteen). There is a ticket at Tsh.
50,000 which included admission to a fund-raising dinner, at the New Africa
Hotel on Saturday, 2nd July at 7.30 pm, where the Guest of Honour will be Alhaj
Ali Hassan Mwinyi, erstwhile President of the Republic of Tanzania.
Other tickets, not including the dinner, are at Tsh. 10,000 and Tsh. 7,500.
Beautiful Miss Mara to
receive motorcycle
By Beldina Nyakeke, Musoma
The Miss Mara Region beauty contest is scheduled for July 8 this
year, and will be held at New Musoma Hotel.
Coordinator for the contest, Dick Nyongo told The Express in Musoma town that
the contest will start at 8.00 pm. The number of contestants is yet undecided.
One of the sponsors, Tanzania Breweries Limited (TBL), Reds Beer, has withdrawn
their sponsorship on the grounds that Mara Region residents are not good
drinkers of Reds.
Before the contest, he said, participants will visit Butiama Village to meet the
widow of the Father of the Nation, Mama Maria Nyerere and visit Mwalimu’s tomb.
In the beauty contest, the overall winner will be awarded a motorcycle worth Tsh.
1 million. The runner-up will get a television worth Tsh. 500,000; and the third
winner will receive a sewing machine worth Tsh. 100,000.
Nyongo has called on residents of Musoma and its surroundings, to come in large
numbers to witness the contest, which will demonstrate fashion together with
some artisanal entertainments from outside Musoma Region.
Three mysterious deaths in
Kilimanjaro
By Heckton Chuwa, Moshi
Three people have died in different incidents in Kilimanjaro Region.
One of the deceased was found with a Tsh. 5,000 note put on his chest.
Confirming the incidents last week, Kilimanjaro Regional Police Commander SACP
Mohamed Chico, stated that the man found with the bill on his chest was later
recognised as a maize trader. He had incurred head injuries and his private
parts had been cut off.
In a second incident, Chico said a man named as Godfrey Mushi (30) was killed by
angry citizens, following allegations that he had stolen a cow belonging to one
Ronald Silayo (30) at Pasua within Moshi Municipal.
In the third incident, Chico said the body of a man who was identified as Herman
Mangoi (60) was found floating in Ukwasi River in Rombo District. He was found
without any injuries.
Double birthday at St.
Alban’s
By Express Reporter
Last Sunday, 26th June, was celebrated as a double anniversary at
the Anglican church, St. Alban’s, in Maktaba Road, Dar es Salaam. It was the
first anniversary of the church’s becoming a cathedral, and the fortieth
anniversary of the founding of the diocese.
On this special occasion, a visitor was present from the diocese of Hereford in
England, Rev. Michael Cluett.
In his sermon, the provost, Canon John Simalenga, reminded the congregation that
the church is named after the first British Christian martyr, St. Alban, who was
whipped and beheaded in 250 AD during the persecution of Christians by the Roman
Emperor Diocletian. This was before the English came to Britain, Alban was one
of the people we call the Ancient Britons, now known as the Scots, the Welsh and
the Irish.
Use your right to vote and
contest, says NEC
By Hudson Kazonta, Dodoma
The deaf have been urged to compete for various seats in the coming
general election and not wait for the special seats.
The Administrative Director of the National Election Committee, Mohamed S.
Kiboko, said this when opening a workshop of Civics Education of Voters, for
deaf people, on Monday this week at VETA conference centre in Dodoma.
He said that the deaf just like other Tanzanians have the right to vote and get
elected. It is wrong to think that the disabled have no ability for leading
others.
Jambo
scoops CNN Award
By Kizito Makoye
Jambo, the in-flight magazine for Air Tanzania published by Media
Express, was among the finalists in the prestigious CNN Multi Choice African
Journalist 2005 award. The magazine’s article titled ‘Stunning life under the
sea’, submitted by Sakina Zainul Datoo, the former editor of The Express, came
first in the South African Airways Tourism Award category.
Yesterday Datoo told The Express: “It was overwhelming… I never thought
something very big would come out of it… in the article I wanted to portray a
positive image of my country.” She went on saying that there has been a lot of
negative coverage about Africa in the western press.
She observed that the article on marine life had impressed the judges because
she described the unique world under water, adding that the judges could see the
pictures and feel the natural life under the water.
“When you think of tourism pieces you think of, especially in Africa, the Maasai
Mara, you think of beaches, you think of safaris…this one talked about marine
life off the coast of Tanzania. The pictures were beautiful, you felt like you
were under water, you felt like you were snorkelling, and after that you wanted
to come up for a bit of fresh air and go back down in the water,” said the
judges of Datoo’s article.
She said: “I am very grateful to Media Express and Jambo for exposing me to the
world of travel writing which I had never attempted before.”
Over 600 journalists from 40 nations participated in this year’s CNN Multi
Choice African Journalist of the year competition.
Angelo Kinyua of Kenya’s KBC was awarded the top prize at this year’s
competition for his story Cancer for Medeva on behalf of KBC.