Sinza’s new development plan runs into opposition

Homeowners in Sinza, in Dar es Salaam’s Ubungo district, say they intend to go to court to challenge a new 20-year development plan for the area.

The plan, prepared through the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Human Settlements Development, aims to turn Sinza into an integrated area with multistorey commercial and residential buildings. Homeowners say the draft contains shortcomings and could deprive them of their ownership rights and their full entitlements if they are relocated.

They also want answers to 30 objections they submitted, including a proposal to combine eight plots into one. The government had said plots would be combined, particularly in Sinza A, B and C, but the homeowners say they have not received a clear response.

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We homeowners do not want this draft, because it contains uncertainty and restricts the rights of owners. Our position is that we are going to court to obtain an interpretation of this matter and learn what rights we have under this plan.

Lumuli Mwaipopo, chair of the homeowners’ committee, said they were pursuing legal procedures to obtain an interpretation and clarification of the draft. He said the document did not identify an investor, adding to the uncertainty surrounding the plan.

Mwaipopo said the group met Lands, Housing and Human Settlements Development Minister Leonard Akwilapo on July 1, 2026. After reviewing their objections, he said, the minister ordered earlier consultation processes to stop and the process to begin again. Mwaipopo said tensions had nevertheless emerged with officials responsible for communicating that decision and restarting the process.

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We do not know where we will go to live if we are relocated. That is one major problem. Someone has a multistorey building, and today you tell them you are combining their plot with someone who has ordinary houses. What will happen to their rights?

He said homeowners had also been described as complainants rather than owners by a senior government official, which he said had caused confusion and made them feel their property rights were being taken away. “We homeowners do not want this draft, because it contains uncertainty and restricts the rights of owners. Our position is that we are going to court to obtain an interpretation of this matter and learn what rights we have under this plan,” he said.

Homeowner Martine Mchopa said residents did not know where they would live if they were removed to make way for the development. “We do not know where we will go to live if we are relocated. That is one major problem. Someone has a multistorey building, and today you tell them you are combining their plot with someone who has ordinary houses. What will happen to their rights?” he said.

Another homeowner, Celestina Kibaha, said she did not support the draft because it was not fair to owners.

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I do not like this draft because it is not fair to owners.