Karagwe evictions cause havoc

THE Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism has said it will intervene in the ongoing operation to evict residents living near the National Parks in Karagwe District, as plans to seek the lasting solution on the matter is still ongoing.

Deputy Minister for Natural Resources and Tourism, Engineer Ramo Makani said in the National Assembly today that the government would seek first hand information regarding the ongoing eviction exercise to see how best to handle the matter.

He was responding to a query raised by Karagwe Member of Parliament, Innocent Bashungwa (CCM) who sought guidance from the Chairman of the House Andrew Chenge to suspend parliament business to debate the ongoing evictions, charging that it was exposing residents in the district to danger “As we speak now, over 300 households in my constituency have already been saved with eviction notices from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism informing them to vacate within three days,’’ he said.

According to the law maker, the eviction order was unfair, adding that it was exposing them to poverty as they have nowhere to go. Following the MP’s plea to the House Chairman to suspend parliamentary business to discuss the matter, the government’s Chief Whip, Jenister Mhagama asked the ministry to give clarification concerning the matter.

In his clarification, Eng Makani said the government had formed a committee to deal with the ongoing disputes between residents living near the national parks and the ministry, which comprises of officials from three ministries—Ministry of Natural Resource and Tourism, Ministry of Land, Housing and Human Settlements Development and Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries.

“The committee is currently at initial stages of coordinating and assessing people living closer to the national park because this issue has been a problem for a long time in the country that needs long-term solutions,’’ he said.

The Deputy Minister said the initial report of the committee had already been handed over to Permanent Secretaries (PSs) of the respective ministries, adding that the PSs would hand over the report to the Cabinet before the final directive from top government authorities.

Eng Makani said the exercise that was taking place in Karagwe was just earmarking and putting new signs in the demarcations that have been existing for a long time but residents there are not able to identify them. However, he was quick to point out that the government would intervene to see if the concerns raised by the Karagwe lawmaker were valid.