A security meeting in Alldina village in Jomvu constituency ended prematurely Wednesday afternoon afternoon after angry villagers stormed the meeting protesting alleged land grabbing.
The irate villagers said they have no faith with Jomvu Chief Matano Hassan and Assistant County Commissioner June Salika in solving their issues.
The two had organized the security meeting and were addressing it when the villagers stormed.
They accused the two of ‘looking the other way’ while their land was being subdivided and sold to private developers in the pretext of development. Hassan and Saliku tried to calm the irate villagers but they would hear none of their pleas.
“We all know who deals with land in the country, it is the National Land Commission so please allow us to finish with the security meeting so that we can address your concerns thereafter,” pleaded Ms. Saliku amid jeering from the corwd who demanded an immediate address from the administrator.
Choga Empeku, a villager, said the original size of the land was about 40 acres but has since been reduced to slightly over 20 acres.
He said that earlier, former area MP Ramadhan Seif Kajembe asked the villagers to allow refugees be settled in the area for some time and they would return to their land.
“But when we returned some 12 people formed their own committee and said they would administer over the land,” Empeku said.
Beja Nguta, a representative of the villagers said they had been doing farming activities on their lands peacefully until early last year when they were told not to step into their farms.
“They keep on telling us that there are some development projects that are supposed to be started here. We have not seen any. What we see is surveyors come and the next thing a private residence is put up. Is this the development they are talking about?” posed Nguta. Most of the houses the on the land were relatively new.
A 76 years old Daudi Bisi, said he first stepped into the land in 1992 after he was called by his father to serve the owner of the land in his farm, he said the original owner of the land gave him a piece after he served him diligently.
“From last year, I have been receiving visits by stranger saying they have bought this land. They will have to remove me from here in a coffin,” he said. “If there is any development project, all of us will see, however we will allow the project to go on but not our lands to be sold to unsuspecting private developers,” Nguta said.
Saliku and Hassan were seen making frantic calls before they immediately called off the meeting and immediately left the venue.
“We will have to call another meeting another day,” she said before she left.