BAK
JF-Expert Member
- Feb 11, 2007
- 124,790
- 288,009
| By ORTON KIISHWEKO, 22nd December 2011 @ 16:00 THE stage is now set for legal battle over a multi-billion government building in Dar es Salaam that was recently sold off at a throw away price under "dubious circumstances." The building was sold for 3bn/-, but some sources say it could fetch up to 10bn/- at market price. The government building, originally known as 'Riddoch Motors' at the junction of India and Jamhuri streets, has been auctioned in a move that official documents suggest that it was made out of a court settlement, contrary to auction procedures. Documents seen by the 'Daily News' show that the Consolidated Holding Corporation (CHC), which is in-charge of the property on behalf of the government, has filed an application at the High Court for revision of the ruling by the Kisutu Resident Magistrate Court on December 16, that the sale was 'absolute.' The case, whose judgement was given in 2000, had recently seen the decree holder, a company called Tan Track Agencies, lodging a request at the ministry for finance and economic affairs that it be paid 3.2bn/- as per the 2000 ruling. In an interesting turn of events, the ministry asked CHC to sit down and negotiate an out of court settlement with the former. According to the documents, on July 29, the two parties agreed that Tan Track Agencies would be paid 1.8bn/- "We agreed that we settle out of court. We requested for approval from the finance ministry, shortly after the ministry approved, we signed a deed of settlement, said CHC Corporation Secretary, Ms Elizabeth Mamba, who was speaking on behalf of Director General in an interview on Thursday. But in an interesting twist, she added, "On September 20, we signed the document and as we went to court to certify it, we learnt from the court that the building had already been auctioned and sold on August 21. "So we've decided to put aside out of court settlement and instead began to challenge the sale in court through an application," she stated. At the High court, CHC have also filed a caveat at the Land office barring the purchaser from tampering with the building, including mortgaging, lease and transfering it, among others. The grounds that CHC seeks revision is that the auction was done unprocedurally, suggesting irregularities such as that the applicant was not served with copy of proclamation. "After proclamation of sale, there should have been an interlude of 30 days but it only took a difference of one day," notes the application. The grounds also point at the fact that the deed of settlement between the two parties and the fact that the defendant had noted in the affidavit that he had no interest in selling the house, but to be paid his money were in contradiction with the action of having gone ahead and auctioned the building. CHC also notes that Kisutu Magistrate Court does not have the jurisdiction to execute the 2000 decree. Instead, following the 1999 Land Act, all cases which were being determined by the Rent Restriction Act of 1985 would now be determined by the District Land and Housing Tribunals and High Court Land Division. "So, these execution should have followed those channel," Ms Mamba said. The case dates back to 1995, when Tanzania Motor Services Limited (TMSL) had a tenant known as Tan Track Agencies. They had a dispute over rent, where the tenant was requesting the landlord to reimburse renovation costs. It culminated into TMSL giving Tan track Agencies a notice to vacate. But the interesting case which was filed by the tenant and went on for five years at Kisutu Court, the tenant applied for four prayers which included being statutory tenant and his renovation costs be restored. In the meantime, TMSL had been specified under Government Notice 400/95 and put under Presidential Parastatal Sector Reform Commission(PSRC). When PSRC was formed, it pursued the case by appealing against the court decision, but never succeeded in having the application heard throughout its lifetime. When CHC came in January 2008,it took over the case which was not heard until Tan Track, the decree holder, applied recently at Kisutu Magistrate Court for the execution of the 2000 judgment that it should be paid. The sale of the public building also reached the attention of Public Organizations Accounts Parliamentary Committee (POAC), with its chairman Mr Zitto Kabwe saying that they were following up the matter more closely. Mr Zitto said, "The CHC should follow up this issue exhaustively in the courts," he stressed. | ||||||||||
