Tanzania's Lands Minister Sacks Registrar Over Title Deed Fraud

 

In Summary

Following the sacking of the official, the Land Minister has appointed a new Title Registrar to succeed the ousted registrar's capacity.

By John Namkwahe

Dar es Salaam — The minister for Land, Housing and Human Settlements, Mr William Lukuvi today July 31, 2019 fired the ministry's Registrar of land titles over land title deed fraud allegations, replacing him with another official immediately.

According to the minister, the ousted registrar was accused of issuing the title deed to Dar es Salaam-based businessman Hans Macha without complying with the standard title deed transfer procedure.

Mr Lukuvi said the title deed in question legally belonged to another Dar es Salaam businessman Ramadhan Balenga who has reportedly recovered from mental illness.

On Wednesday, the land minister visited Kigogo and Msimbazi areas in the city where he received an outstanding ovation from residents who gathered to listen to his speech.

While in Kigogo, the land minister received complaints from the fraud victim Mr Balenga, and declared that the ministry had officially revoked the title deed which was issued to Mr Macha.

"Under the fifth phase government, such injustices won't be tolerated in the community," said the land minister.

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Mr Macha was accused of committing two offences including forgery and claiming to be the owner of a four floors building built in a plot in the question-located at Kigogo.

"Macha and I were close friends. Back in the days, he convinced me to give him the title deed so that he could help me to secure a loan amounting to Sh500 million from CRDB. But he disappeared after I gave him the documents, "Mr Balenga told the Citizen on Wednesday.

He added: "Then I developed mental illness so I couldn't follow up on the matter. But after recovering from the illness, I sought legal assistance to reclaim my properties."

Following the minister's directive, Mr Balenga has officially retained possession of both the title deed and the building which is still under construction.

While in Mzimbazi Centre, Mr Lukuvi ordered the management of Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Dar es Salaam and the owner of Victoria Service Station Limited Mr Harold Matemba to report to his office on Friday this week so as to discuss and resolve the land dispute involving the aforementioned two sides.