Agony of demolition victims as lives turned upside down
Dar es
Salaam.
For women, children, the elderly and the sick
who are spending nights out in the open after their houses were demolished in
Dar es Salaam to pave the way for the expansion of Morogoro Road, dusk marks
the start of a painful experience, which repeats itself in 24-hour cycles.
With no
idea of where to go or what tomorrow will bring, victims of the demolitions
have taken to setting up camps, where they gather to spend the night exposed to
the elements.
The
Citizen visited the city’s Kimara and Kibamba areas and spent one night with
the victims. There were a total of about 40 almost destitute souls in Kibamba.
They burn
firewood throughout the night to stay warm as they struggle to come to terms
with what has befallen them.
One of the
victims, whose four houses valued at about Sh900 million were pulled down
during the demolitions, Mr Nicomed Leo, 61, says he never dreamed that he would
one day find himself in such a situation.
“This is
our new home...we sleep here until morning. This is the kind of life that has
been imposed on us,” he says with a smile on his face as he lights a fire.
Mr Leo,
who earlier in the month vowed that he would never allow his houses be pulled
down, fainted when a bulldozer belonging to the Tanzania National Road Agency
(Tanroads) finally flattened the buildings within a matter of minutes last
week.
Also in
the group was Ms Salma Msisi, 50, a widow and mother of three, who was
preparing ugali for dinner as children aged between three and five slept on a
mattress and mats close to the fire.
“This is
our life today. I pray that I will one day wake up and realise that this was
just a bad dream,” she says.
Ms Msisi,
like the rest of the people at the makeshift camp, has been devastated by the
turn of events.
She is
among dozens of people whose houses were demolished in violation of a court
order that restrained Tanroads from tearing down the buildings before an
application filed by the residents was heard and determined.
“I have
nowhere else to go. The house left behind by my late husband has been pulled
down. It was the only place that my children and I called home,” she says.
Ms Msisi
spends nights out in the open with her three children, but has found temporary
shelter for her three grandchildren.
Fate has
brought together people who lived in posh houses and those who lived in humble
homes. They now buy food, cook and eat together as one family.
The
victims say they have been devastated economically to the extent that some
cannot afford a meal.
“We are
collecting between Sh500 and Sh1,000 from each one of us for buying food,” says
one of them.
Many have
sold their belongings and a few materials they managed to salvage such as wood,
bricks and iron sheets so that they can buy food for their families.
There are
no essential services like water, electricity and toilets at the camp, and
people relieve themselves in the rubble strewn across the area.
“We don’t
have toilets, so we relieve in the rubble of our demolished houses. Our health
is at risk because we don’t even have clean drinking water,” says Ms Aisha
Abel.
An eerie
darkness blankets the area at night after Tanzania Electric Supply Company
(Tanesco) disconnected power.
Mr Chande
Mohamed says he has been forced to send his wife and children back to their
home village and decided to remain behind as he contemplates how to rebuild his
life.
“I’m
starting from scratch. I have been left with absolutely nothing,” he says.
Mr
Faustine John was still struggling to come to terms with what befell his
family.
“It never
dawned on me that I would one day be sleeping outside. This is too much to
bear,” says Mr John, whose wife and children have been offered temporary
shelter by neighbours whose houses were spared in the demolitions.
Another
victim, Ms Halima Ramadhani, a mother of three, says she could not salvage
anything after her house was pulled down while she was away.
The Citizen
also visited another camp at Kibamba CCM, where a family of 14 people was seen
huddled together outside after their houses were demolished. They also claimed
that they lost an eight-acre plot on which family graves stood.
According
to a report released on Thursday by the Legal and Human Rights Centre (LHRC),
about 1,000 people have been rendered homeless after 200 houses were torn down
at Kimara and Kibamba.
Many
victims complain that Tanroads has encroached on their land, which they secured
legally decades ago. However, Toanroads maintain that the residents had built
houses and other structures in the road reserve.
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