From the underground bunker, the excavators had retrieved wads of cash amounting to about 35m/- during the demolition of buildings in the ongoing construction works to expand and upgrade the Mianzini – Ikiding’a road.
The money was uncovered from the underground chamber inside one of the houses whose walls were demolished. The house belongs to Mr Christopher Akonaay, a farmer who has reportedly been storing his hard earned cash in the trench on monthly installments for the past seven years.
The livestock keeper, endowed with a large herd of cattle, supplies milk to many families and institutions around Arusha City and its suburbs, earning up to 1.5m/- monthly. Mr Akonaay was away selling milk in town, when the excavators struck the area.
The houses had previously earmarked for demolition to pave way for the road construction project but the residents in the area rushed to file a case in court last June, protesting against the move.
When the court ruling came out in favour of the government, the graders did not wait for the property owners to file another suit, but proceeded to knock down the walls.
Mr Akonaay’s mud house with its bedrooms strategically located along the road, was among the first buildings pulled down. But within the bedroom, the farmer had own styled ‘safe’ in which the 35m/- in form of red bank notes were stored, tied up in a number of polythene bags.
As the excavators combed the bedroom floor, the buried money came out flying much to the delight of passers-by who elbowed each other in their rush to collect as much cash as they could manage.
At that time the owner, Mr Akonaay, popularly known as ‘Mmbulu,’ was busy supplying milk to his customers in the city and by the time he got back, he was shocked to see his house pulled down and the money gone.
“I have been depositing between 800,000/- and 1m/- in the underground hole since 2013,” he confessed. Apparently, for the last 48 months of his secret bedroom bank, the hole under Akonaay’s bed must have swallowed around 35m/- if not more.
“We now call him “Mabulungutu” (Mr Wads of money)” said the neighbours who were adamant to provide their identities lest they get to help the police should Mr Akonaay decide to report the matter to the law enforcers.
Neighbours were also surprised that despite having so much money, Akonaay still lived in the mud house. But one may also be interested to know why he did not put his money in the bank.
“I don’t trust banks, because in the 1990s when working at a government institution I opened an account which I used to accumulate money but after leaving it dormant for 10 years, it was frozen.”
He later opted to store money in the house, but again a visiting relative smelled the cash and on one bright morning he broke into the house and looted all the amount.
As the last resort, the hole under the bedroom overlooking the road proved to be safest option for the man for last four years until the excavators had struck ‘the bank’.
Daily News
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