Kijenge estate tenants seek Arusha DC’s help

Tenants of the Arusha International Conference Centre (AICC) Kijenge housing estate, having been served notices to vacate their homes by end of next month, have sought the intervention of the Arusha District Commissioner (DC), Mr Felcian Mtahengerwa, to halt the eviction. The Chairman of Kijenge Hamlet, Mr John Hingira, confirmed that the petition had been received by the DC’s office. “Let’s have patience and wait for the DC’s response,” Mr Hingira advised the tenants through a WhatsApp communication. The tenants face a January 31 deadline to vacate the houses, but have requested a six-month extension to secure alternative accommodations. Efforts by ‘The Arusha News’ to get the DC’s comment were unsuccessful as we went to press. Mzee Samuel Hussein Kassori, former Private Secretary to Mwalimu Julius Nyerere, has appealed to the government to compel the AICC to suspend the eviction order affecting nearly 300 families. In a letter to Prime Minister (PM) Kassim Majaliwa dated November 12, 2024, Mzee Kassori said the matter was sensitive. The AICC termination notice has reportedly triggered a dramatic surge in house rent in the area, where a tenant explained that a three-bedroom house that previously cost Tsh 400,000 was now charged over Tsh 600,000 – while rent for five-bedroom house has risen from Tsh 600,000 to over Tsh 800,000. A notice signed by AICC Managing Director, Ms Christine Mwakatobe, on November 5, 2024 gave tenants two months to vacate their homes to pave the way for “strategic development projects.” It is understood that plans are underway to construct a larger convention centre and a five-star hotel under a PublicPrivate Partnership (PPP) between AICC and unspecified private investors. Mzee Kassori warned in his letter, a copy sent to ‘The Arusha News’, that the matter was being handled without empathy. “When some of us inquired, we were told it’s orders from above,” he noted. He suggested that if eviction was inevitable, tenants should be engaged to appreciate and support the proposed projects or risk unnecessary disruption and hardship. A tenant who has lived in the estate for 28 years described the two-month notice as too short and appealed for at least six more months to relocate. AICC had similarly demolished housing units at its Soweto estate eight years ago to allow for redevelopment, but no project has materialised since then.