Dar es Salaam. It seems that it will take a little longer before the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) will finally be able to dispose of its controversial Dege Eco Village project in Kigamboni in the city after the pension fund failed to cut a deal with the interested buyer.

This was revealed Monday by NSSF director general Masha Mshomba who told journalists in the capital Dodoma that the fund’s talks with the buyer who was willing to pay US$220 million (Sh501 billion) to buy the project ended with nothing.

It will be remembered that Mr Mshomba, during a meeting with editors on September 25, 2023, said that NSSF was “finalising” talks with the buyer, expressing confidence that the pension fund would be able to dispose of the project whose construction stalled for more than seven years since 2016 by no later than October 31, 2023.

“The expectations are to sign the sale agreement before October 31, 2023,” Mr Mshomba said then. “Together with other government authorities, we are now finalising all tender-related procedures, which include bargaining with the prospective buyer.”

Now, nearly twenty months later, Mr Mshomba says the deal couldn’t be signed as the buyer, a company called Hello, failed to honour its early commitment to pay for the project. He didn’t give the full description of the company, including its full legal name or its headquarters.

READ MORE: NSSF Is ‘Finalising Talks’ With Buyer of Its Dege Eco Village

“We indeed expected Dege Eco Village to have been sold by last year; We had already found a buyer, a company called Hello. The buyer was selected after undergoing the government’s vetting process,” he told a conference Monday.

“But after signing contracts with them, and with the selling price set at not Sh500 billion but U$215 million, which is quite a large sum, they failed to fulfil their obligations. They did not make the payment as required.

“We wanted them to pay half of the amount upfront, that is, US$110 million at the beginning, but they did not pay.”

NSSF announced on October 21, 2022, that it was disposing of the project, estimated to be worth $653 million (about Sh1.3 trillion), and prospective buyers had until November 14, 2022, to express their interests.

In its announcement, NSSF said the winner would be announced on the same date – November 14 – during a meeting it’d convene with all tenderers at the 7th floor of the Benjamin William Mkapa Pension Towers (Tower B) in the city centre.

READ MORE: NSSF Boss Speaks Out About Dege Eco Village

NSSF’s announcement that it was selling the project also came after almost seven years of no activity at the site in Rasi Dege, Kigamboni, where over 20,000 acres of land were expected to be developed to cater to Dar’s real estate needs.

The pension fund never explained why it was selling the project to a prospective investor. However, its intention to dispose of the mega-investment comes almost seven years after NSSF admitted that its contract with Azimio Housing Estates to form Special Purpose Vehicle Company, Hifadhi Builders Limited, was “fraudulently entered.”

During his Monday press conference, Mr Mshomba said that after the project was halted, it was placed under the Office of the Attorney General, which advised terminating the sales contract with the company, Hello.

As a result, NSSF is now planning to consult the government again on whether to re-advertise the project for sale or consider alternative uses for it.

Lukelo Francis is an Associate Editor at The Chanzo from Dar es Salaam. He can be reached at haulelukelo@gmail.com.