Tanzania's shifting grave row

By John Ngahyoma
BBC, Dar es Salaam

Tanzanian Muslims say religious customs were not followed

Residents of the Tanzanian capital, Dar es Salaam, have expressed mixed feelings as the authories exhume remains of their relatives for a re-burial in a remote area.

The government has approved the removal of about 1,400 graves from Ilala, one of the city suburbs, to make room for a development project in the area.

The authorities are planning to build a mayor's office, a secondary school and vocational centre on the site - a project which has already created more than 100 jobs for unemployed young people.

The remains from the cemetery, used by Muslims, will be reburied in Segerea town, 18 kilometres (11 miles) west of the city.

'Humiliating'

The government has said it will pay a compensation of 60,000 Tanzanian Shillings ($57) per grave to relatives.

But Issa Ramadhani Poyo, who has 14 relatives buried in the area, was not happy.

He said he did not understand why the "government is always targeting Muslims".

"Why do development projects have to make Muslims go through the most humiliating process?" he said.

The project has created 160 jobs for the unemployed youths

He recalled that a few years ago another Muslim graveyard in the same Ilala area was cleared for a road development, while a few metres across, a non-Muslim cemetery was not affected.

Similar sentiments were expressed by an Islamic leader, Sheikh Ali Kileo, who complained that religious procedures were not followed during the removal process, "hence showing disrespect to the dead".

The Ilala municipal council, which is overseeing the project, said the authorities had made provisions for the proper religious procedures.

'Muslim customs'

"But since women are not allowed at the cemetery, according to Muslim customs, I cannot be certain of what happened during the actual process of exhuming the remains," said Lucy Semindu, municipal public relations officer.

Some people have criticised the government for being insensitive by leaving the remains in the open before being transported to the remote graveyard.

However, for many of Ilala's unemployed young people, the project is a blessing in disguise as it has created temporary jobs for them.

Hassan Ramadhan, 18, told the BBC the scheme had given young people a chance to generate some income from selling bricks, slabs and stones from the demolished tombs.

The government will spent about 142 million Tanzanian Shillings ($134,995) on the removal of the graves for compensation and also for the wages of about 160 unemployed youths between the age of 16 and 23.