FOUR employees of the Kinondoni municipal council were arraigned in court yesterday to answer charges of fraud in connection with permits issued to the owner of the controversial Masaki apartments in Dar es Salaam.
The accused persons were identified as council’s Assistant Building Director, Robert Sinde Warioba (46), Civil Technician Olympia John Kundi (38), Joyce Mwamlima (39) and Diana Peter (44), a records keeper at the council.
The four were charged before the Kisutu Resident Magistrate?s Court on three different counts.
The Prosecutor, Mr Charles Kenyela, told Magistrate Silvanus Mwangesi that the accused persons are jointly charged with forging Building Permit, No. 00000600 dated August 20, 2004, purporting to show that it was a genuine document issued by the Kinondoni municipal council to the private developer.
They are charged with forging a building document issued to Messrs Empire Properties Limited of P.O. Box 4504 Dar es Salaam in respect to plot No 383 along Tour Drive at Oysterbay in Dar es Salaam to allow the company erect a building structure of eight storeys.
In the third count, the Kinondoni municipal council?s Civil Technician, Ms Olympia Kundi and record keepers Joyce Mwamlima and Diana Peter, were jointly charged with destroying a building permit book.
The three are alleged to have removed and destroyed duplicate and triplicate copies of the said building permit with intent thereby to prevent it from being used as evidence.
The accused persons were denied bail and were remanded in prison until today when the magistrate will consider their bail applications and adjourn the case to June 5, this year, when it comes up for mention.
Meanwhile, the owner of the doomed apartment blocks at the posh Masaki suburb in Dar es Salaam has questioned the motive behind the decision of officials with the Kinondoni municipal council to demolish part of his buildings at their final stages of completion.
In a statement released by his lawyers, Messrs Empire Properties Limited accused municipal officials of disrecpecting the rule of law.
Our client fails to understand why its properties have been properly targeted, especially at this time when it has reached completion point, said the statement circulated to the media by M.A. Ismail & Co. Advocates.
It added: The construction has been going on for about two years now. One wonders, if the developments were unlawful, where were the authorities all this time? Why did they let the alleged illegality continue for so long?
The lawyers described as ’untrue’ media reports suggesting the apartments were built illegally, saying they had secured all the necessary building permits from the municipal council.
