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Is there any injustice taking place around the world? Iraq ring a bell? if so, how much injustice? Any war crimes? Who is to blame? What can we, the youths do about it? This is the place to dissect the truth, and rant on about politics.
#11632
I RECEIVED THE FOLLOWING EMAIL TODAY:
HELP PROTECT OUR K.S.I. COMMUNITY TRUST PROPERTIES
To: undisclosed-recipients

To: All Khoja Shia Ithna-asheri Community Members.

Two Trust properties (buildings/land) of K.S.I. Community members of
Tanzania (Registered in the name of K.S.I. Tanganyika Education Council)
in Dar es Salaam have been sold by Africa Federation DSM Trustees to non
community members without Consulting, Offering or even Informing the
majority of our community members.

The said properties are in very prime locations of DSM City Centre
(Metro Hse Bldg., Jamhuri/Kitumbini St.) and Upanga (Plot No: 598,
U.N.Rd/Kalenga St.) areas.

Read more by clicking on the link below. Dont forget to sign the
petition to show your solidarity against such anti-TRUST acts, and to
demand that your jamaat take appropriate action.

http://www.petitiononline.com/hpqazwsx/petition.html

Kind regards

Your brother in faith

P.S. Please forward this petition to friends and family
IS THIS TRUE?

WHERE ARE WE HEADED?
#11634
I have heard about this and discussed it with many people as well.

I am signing it!

If i dont then whats the difference between me and those that kept quiet when Bibi Fatema's (AS) land (fadak) was being usurped
#12093
This is just a tip of an iceberg.

There are a lot more scandals done by the community leaders, and surprisingly it has been on the rise in the recent few years.

One "well known" is the snatching of property belonging to one Ismaili (I need to confirm) some years ago for the extension/space behind the Imambargha. [Opposite Babu Lelo]. The Ismaili brother came to the Jamaat officials many times for his right, but the then leaders paid no heed. Upon being pressed on this issue for many years, a few brothers approached this Ismaili. And his reply was that: what is the use of money now, when after so many years, my parent and sibling have died, I will demand my right in the akhera. I think that was a wise decision by him.

By keeping quiet and doing nothing about these kinds of issues, I think we are becoming a party to this injustice, and in akhera we will all be answerable.
If i dont then whats the difference between me and those that kept quite when Bibi Fatema's (AS) land (fadak) was being usurped
Well said Bro Hasin!


I am at liberty to inform you all of one such incident BEFORE it has completed so we can take action NOW. and not claim ignorance later when the deed is done.

I hear the AF is also trying to usurp a trust property belonging to Bukoba Jamaat.

Will update on the matter very soon. And post other injustice too.
#12100
There is an AF meeting this weekend in DSM.

Why dont we gather all such questions and bring them up during the meeting to give the administration a fair chance to answer them in presence of the general body?

I was informed a statement was released by AF with regards to the petition. Anyone have access to it?
#12104
Here is a copy of the statement in reply to the above mentioned petition.

However, I have also been informed by a brother that some of the information presented in this statement is wrong and misleading.
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Re: Tanganyika Education Council (TEC) Properties.

Salaam Alaikum.

It has been brought to our attention that a petition has been passed around in the Jamaats of Tanzania regarding the ownership and sale of Federation Properties in Dar es salaam. The properties concerned are:

Jamhuri Street Property (Metro House)
UN Road Property

We, the Managing Trustees of the Federation of Africa Jamaats, would like to clarify the exact transpirations in order to contest the misinformed individuals that are distributing the said petition and hope that the membership will be better informed once the facts are shared.

It is true that the ownership of the said properties lay with the Tanganyika Education Council (TEC). The purpose of these properties was that they would provide funds that would be used for students in Tanzania entering Higher Education. In 1998, during the 20th Triennial Conference, a resolution was passed at the request of the TEC which saw all assets, liabilities, commitments and other responsibilities (of TEC) passed to the Africa Federation in trust. A condition was stipulated in the same resolution that the aims of the said properties which were to fund Higher Educational students in Tanzania would not change. It was in 2006 that the Jamaats of Tanzania endorsed this handover.


The requirement of the Higher Education fund as it stands today is between US$500,000.00 to US$750,000.00 depending on the number of students seeking assistance for the Higher Education Fees. This figure is based on the average number of students who are granted US$5,000.00 per year. This same facility is payable after the completion of the students higher education program. The number of students that apply for the grant constitutes approximately 75% of the fund.

This requirement has always been at the forefront of the education program which is why the students of Tanzania continue to enjoy their higher education funding. Therefore, the provision of this grant has seen phenomenal growth in the number of graduates in the community. However, the ever increasing number of students who apply for this facility every year put a strain in the realisation of this program and facility to continue indefinitely without growth in revenues from the properties of TEC.

In April 2004, at the 22nd Triennial Conference held in Nairobi, it was unanimously resolved that the Trustees of the Federation should move ahead and dispose the said properties of the Federation with specific intentions to improve the returns by utilising the funds received from the disposal of the said properties into investments that have a return on investment to equate to that of the present market values.

This resolution was moved by the Dar es salaam Jamaat. It was decided then that the validity of this resolution was to continue to the next conference scheduled for 2007 where a further extension was granted during the 23rd Triennial Conference up to the year 2010. The resolution which grants the said extension is attached for the perusal of all members.

In April 2005, a complete valuation exercise was conducted to ascertain the values of the properties mentioned above. These values received are as follows:

=================Annual Rental (US$)===Property Value (US$)===Returns (%)

Metro House========11,950.00===========535,455.00===========2.2
UN Road============3,023.00============144,166.00===========2.1

This research provided results that were expected and mentioned in 2004. The returns from these properties were dismal. Furthermore, a refurbishment of the said properties would still not raise the returns to market standards. Therefore, the Managing Trustees of the Federation placed these properties in the market for investors and developers to purchase.

Initially, Metro House received an offer from the community for US$500,000.00 and UN Road attracted an offer of US$1,000,000.00. However, further offers were received. Metro House secured an offer of US$650,000.00 whilst UN Road achieved an offer of US$1,200,000.00. These offers were consequently accepted after conferring with senior community members, who are successful entrepreneurs in the property market, who agreed that these offers were well over market expectations.

After great consideration of such advice, we had to solve issues with existing tenants in order move ahead with the sale of these properties.

Metro House has twelve tenants who occupy the residences. Of these twelve, only two are non-Muslims. The rest of the tenants are our community members. Therefore, to protect the interest of our community members, a condition was put up at sale to any interested buyer that the existing tenants would be allowed to continue living in the building for at least 4 years. This stipulation was accepted by the party interested in acquiring the property. Since, this situation and arrangement seemed advantageous and more than acceptable to us, we started the process and informed all the tenants of the developments leading to the sale of the properties.

UN Road property held 6 tenants who occupied the residences. Of these tenants, only one was Muslim and of our community. Initially, this property was to be developed into a multi-storey commercial and residential complex containing 40 residential dwellings and 10 commercial outlets. With this project in mind, the tenants concerned were notified to surrender their occupancies by December 2006.

Whilst waiting for the occupants to vacate, other investments were brought to our attention. These investments were already built to modern standards and whose returns were concluded to be in line with market standards. Keeping this in mind, the proceeds received from the sale of Metro House and UN Road properties were used for the procurement of one the properties brought to our attention.

The property that was decided upon was in the Kinondoni Area of Dar es salaam. The purchase price of the same was US$2,400,000.00. In order to finance this purchase, the Federation had to invest a further US$550,000.00 on top of the proceeds from the properties sold (which was US$1,850,000.00).

To facilitate this purchase, a fund was launched in 2004 to raise the balance required and to further finance the Higher Education Loan Program of Africa Federation (HELP). This fund was named the Zulfikar Ali Khimji Memorial Fund (ZAKMEF). The intention with which finance was raised was for the same to be invested into assets whose return would finance the requirements of the education program which in turn would benefit the community at large. With this supplement, the Federation was able to secure the property in Kinondoni. This investment saw a substantial increase in the income of the Federation.

To better show the increase in income, we thought it prudent to show numbers:
Kinondoni Property
Annual Rental(US$): 300,000.00
Property Value(US$): 2,400,000.00
Returns (%): 12.5

As a result of this procurement, we multiplied the rental income of the Federation by 20. To explain this figure better one has to understand that the original gross annual rental received from the UN Road and Metro House properties was UD$14,973.00. This has now increased through the investment into the Kinondoni property to US$300,000.00.

Unfortunately, it is sad to see that members of the community have chosen to provide a negative response to the Federation ensuring that the returns from assets funding the education program grow not only along market values but in line with the increasing demand of the students seeking higher education. We do sincerely hope that the community will realise just as we have that this kind of progress is only necessary for the progress and benefit of the community.

With Salaams and Duas,

Federation of Khoja Shia Ithna Asheri Jamaat of Africa.

Ramzan Nanji

Chairman

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