TANZANIA: LAND/DAILY NEWS/5/9/18 SABANews 1
ZANZIBAR CITY – The President of the TANZANIAN semi-autonomous islands of ZANZIBAR has called on people in his country to stop occupy land illegally.
ALI MOHAMED SHEIN says his government will not tolerate law abusers, and it will not fold its hands as criminals set up homes in protected and non-residential areas.
The DAILY NEWS says his comments come after a trip to a FOUR-POINT-THREE-hectare plot reserved for the ZANZIBAR High Court at TUNGUU in the Central District, in South UNGUJA.
President SHEIN has expressed dismay after disturbing reports saying a number of people have invaded the area.
He says the authorities and residents should not allow such acts, because it is against the law to grab State land reserved for socio-economic development projects.
The ZANZIBAR Archipelago in the INDIAN Ocean, 25 kilometres off the Coast of Mainland TANZANIA, comprises many small islands – the largest of them being UNGUJA and PEMBA.
The 2002 Census, the most recent, shows the ZANZIBAR population at 984-THOUSAND-625, with about TWO-THIRDS of the people living on UNGUJA or ZANZIBAR Island, most of them settled in the densely populated west.
Besides ZANZIBAR CITY, other towns on UNGUJA include CHAANI, CHWAKA, MBWENI, MANGAPWANI, and NUNGWI; while outside the urban centres most people live in small villages of farmers and fishermen.
ZANZIBAR has diverse ethnic origins, with the FIRST permanent residents seeming to have been the ancestors of the BANTU, HADIMU, and TUMBATU, who began arriving from the AFRICAN Great Lakes mainland around AD-ONE-THOUSAND.
However, President SHEIN says all ZANZIBAR land is under the government and nobody has the right to occupy open areas on the islands unlawfully.
He has urged people to follow the right procedures whenever they want to reside anywhere, saying persons who invaded and built houses in the area have breached the law and have to vacate.
The ZANZIBAR Leader has commended SOUTH UNGUJA Regional Commissioner for removing the trespassers, saying the State never permitted use of the area for residential purposes./Sabanews/cam