Queries over Tibaijuka’s stance on Sh478m award

 

In Summary

• Investigations established that the minister failed to distinguish between an application and an appeal.

Queries over Tibaijuka’s

stance on Sh478m award

By Katare Mbashiru

Dar es Salaam. Lands minister Anna Tibaijuka could find herself on the wrong side of the law over a Sh478 million land tenancy compensation dispute pitting a state corporation and Mwalimu Nyerere’s former private translator.

Apparently, the matter which also involves a Swedish national is, according to court documents, pending in the Court of Appeal even as the minister told Parliament on Wednesday that the case had been dismissed.

Finalising discussions on her ministry’s budget estimates on Wednesday, Prof Tibaijuka told the august House that separate appeals logged by National Housing Corporation (NHC) and the Swedish national, Mr Lars Erick Hulstrom against Mwalimu Nyerere’s former aide Jinglang Li had been concluded.

She was dismissing reports from a section of the press indicating that there were internal squabbles between some top government officials over the case, aiming at favouring Ms Jinglang.

But enquiries by The Citizen have established that the case is still pending in the Court of Appeal.

Prof Tibaijuka has, however, told Parliament that the government (NHC) lost the case and is thus legally bound to execute the ruling by the High Court which ordered that a compensation of Sh478 million be given to Miss Jinglang, a Tanzanian of Chinese origin, after she was evicted from House No.103 located at Plots 3, 5, 7 and 8 on Haile Selassie Road in Oysterbay, Dar es Salaam.

Investigations established that the minister failed to distinguish between an application and an appeal.