Chaos as DC slaps farmers' chairman
2006-10-13 09:01:47
By Festo Sikagonamo PST, Mbarali
Small-holder farmers in Kapunga village in Mbarali District, Mbeya Region blocked the Parliamentary Committee on Agriculture and Land from visiting the area, resulting in a serious verbal exchange between the villagers and the Mbarali District Commissioner, Hawa Ngulume.
During the squabble, which lasted for about 10 minutes, the District Commissioner lost her temper and slapped the farmers' chairman, Alfred Mkemwa in the face and shoved aside the demonstrators who had blocked the road demanding an audience with the committee.
The villagers wanted the committee to respond to alleged harassment by the investor, who owns Export Trading Ltd. They accused the investor of forcibly evicting them from their homes.
The investor, the villagers protested, had acquired the parcel of land under suspicious circumstances.
They also alleged the investor had denied them access to the water canals they were using for domestic needs and irrigation.
They complained that the government had promised to look into the problem, but so far nothing tangible had been done.
They also accused the investor of evicting Kapunga Primary School teachers from their houses on the farm.
Efforts by Deputy Minister for Agriculture, Food security and Co-operatives, Christopher Chiza, to calm down the angry villagers failed as they protested the DC's conduct, which they termed as unethical and unbecoming.
The DC told the committee later that the farmers' allegations had no basis and that the villagers had been misled by a few farmers who were opposed to the privatisation of the farm.
The DC said some of the farmers had even travelled to Dodoma during the last parliamentary session to complain about the privatisation of the parcel of land.
The DC told the committee further that the investor had merely asked the teachers to find alternative accommodation while the school was being rehabilitated including the teachers' houses.
Members of the committee appealed for calm between the investor and the people living around the farm.
The investor told the committee that he was rehabilitating the infrastructure of the farm and was planning to put 1,000 ha of the 7,000 ha farm under food crops cultivation.
SOURCE: Guardian