Demolition must remain under the law.

 

 Different government agencies are currently implementing a directive to clear roads reserve of buildings and other structures said to have encroached the public utility land.

We have witnessed hundreds of families uprooted from their homes as bulldozers moved in to enforce this order in several parts of the country. The government has earmarked buildings to be demolished in places such as Tanga, Tabora, Moshi and other upcoming urban centres. In many place the exercise is ongoing.

In Dar es Salaam, especially, the demolitions have been intense in parts of the city and left in its wake a lot of suffering for those whose investments were affected. Not even churches or mosques have been spared in the drive. To many victims, their loss was of life-long savings that were reduced to mere rubble in minutes.

But amidst this suffering, it was not lost on the public that the exercise was at least welcomed silently as it was seen as a necessary evil meant to improve our town planning and secure the vital utility for expansion of infrastructure as the country gathers pace on the development super highway.

Those who were affected were at least comforted that it was in their lack of knowledge or otherwise that they found themselves settled on road reserves. Others may have felt aggrieved and feel they deserved some sort of compensation before being evicted and even sought the courts’ intervention, even if futile.

Double standard

It is in this same vein that people whose homes and businesses were demolished in Dar and elsewhere will now feel aggrieved that those targeted in a similar drive elsewhere have been let off the hook by directives from the President.

President John Magufuli, while in a tour of Mwanza Region, ordered government officials and local authorities to leave alone those earmarked for eviction from the road reserves. Like those in Dar es Salaam and elsewhere, they had been accused of encroaching the reserve in the lake zone city.

The President told authorities there to spare those who have encroached road reserves on account of being his supporters. We can only say that the directives were most unfortunate and ill-timed coming at a time when other citizens are smarting from the effects of the same.

We say unfortunate because Dr Magufuli’s remarks have opened unnecessary debate whether the government’s demolition drive was well intentioned, and if the President’s directive does not amount to double standards in enforcing the law or the decision to open up the roads.

As Head of State, Dr Magufuli is the topmost custodian of the law and that is why his word could be taken as law in some instances.

For seeking to spare the people of Mwanza the agony of the ongoing demolitions, the President may have been well within the armpit of exercising the powers bestowed on him by virtue of the office, but it is now upon the government to explain and deal with the growing perception that the demolition exercise was being carried out as a retribution against those who are perceived as not having supported the President during the campaigns in the 2015 elections.