Mama Samia Legal Aid Campaign resolves 12-year land dispute

DODOMA: THE second phase of the Mama Samia Legal Aid Campaign continues to transform lives in Dodoma, with longstanding land grievances now being resolved swiftly, including a 12-year dispute that left a 68-year-old villager living in fear and deteriorating health.

Mzee Kandido Antony Ngwembele, a resident of Lufu Ward in Mpwapwa District, has finally regained his seven-acre farmland after it was taken by the village government in 2014 during a landuse planning exercise and allocated for livestock grazing without compensation.

Speaking moments after the legal team handed back his land, the visibly emotional Ngwembele said the prolonged conflict had stripped him of peace, worsened his ulcers and pushed him to the brink of despair.

“Now I have peace. The stomach ulcers that were threatening my health will heal. I used to live in constant fear. Whenever someone knocked on my door, I believed they had come for me. I had begun to lose hope and felt like I was nearing my end,” he said.

The land was returned after legal experts from the Ministry of Constitutional and Legal Affairs implementing the Mama Samia Legal Aid Campaign intervened, investigated the dispute and supervised a formal handover between the village government and Ngwembele.

“I am satisfied. The seven acres are enough for me. I have no other complaint,” he affirmed.

Mr Faustino Mgabe, who witnessed the handover between Ngwembele and the village government, commended the legal team for resolving a conflict that had persisted for years, saying their arrival brought long-awaited justice to the elderly villager.

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Another beneficiary, Ms Suzan Michael from Mtumba in Dodoma, also thanked the ministry for helping her recover her registered Plot No. 450 after years of uncertainty over its exact location.

She presented her complaint at Mtekelezo grounds, where legal aid services are being offered, and experts helped her trace and reclaim the plot.

Ms Michael said the campaign restored her right to property ownership, noting that without the intervention she would not have known where to begin.

The ministry said the ongoing legal aid drive aims to deliver justice directly to citizens, address long-standing land and inheritance disputes, and reinforce public trust in government justice systems, particularly among vulnerable communities.