Speaking of Mr. Devil...Coruption is here to stay.

Posted April 8th, 2008 by mnyadi

Tanzania ruling party in danger over $133million EPA scandal
Monday, 07 April 2008
By Daniel Said

DAR ES SALAAM, TANZANIA — Suspicion that the ruling Chama cha Mapinduzi (CCM) was one of beneficiaries in the US$133 million External Payments Arrears (EPA) account of the Bank of Tanzania (BoT), have placed the Presidential investigating team into a dilemma.

Recent reports have it that in its efforts to investigate and take “appropriate measures” as ordered by President Jakaya Kikwete, the team which comprises the Attorney General, Johnson Mwanyika, Inspector General of Police Said Mwema and the Director of Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau Edward Hosea has met a hitch.

“Our investigations is like opening up a Pandora Box because all the 22 companies involved in the EPA scandal have issued written statements that implicate the ruling CCM,” said a source close to the committee, who spoke on condition of annonimity.

The Committee which started its job by tracing the accounts of the suspects, has to a large extent managed to freeze some of them including those of their beneficiaries. “The only beneficiary, who has severally been mentioned by the 22 companies and appears to be ‘unreacheable’, is CCM,” the source said.

But the one-million-dollar question remains: “Who’s going to freeze CCM’ accounts despite the fact that all the 22 companies involved in the EPA scandal have issued written statements which show that the companies disbursed some of the money to the ruling party? Indeed, the team is in a dilemma,” said the source.

“The written statements have worried the team. The suspects have severally mentioned the ruling party and its top leadership and sometimes giving evidence of letters and related correspondences,” she said adding that, at times, some senior government officials have also been implicated.

But although the statements directly mention some of the CCM top brass in the previous government and the current one, all of them are yet to appear before the presidential investigating team.

The East African Business Week has reliable information that about four key suspects and witnesses were yet to be summoned by the Presidential investigating team despite their “role and direct involvement in the scandal.”

Some of them, the source said, were the architects of the scam.

A new revelation is now showing that that some of the EPA funds were used in financing the 2005 general elections, including campaigns and other related activities.

Last week, East African Business Week, learnt that about Tsh 108 million (US$87,000) was “offered” by one EPA scandal suspect to retain the Kigoma Urban Constituent which was under the opposition party, Chama cha Demokrasia na Maendeleo (CHADEMA) for 10 years.

The money, a source said, was used to woo both CCM and CHADEMA voters to vote for the CCM candidate. Eventually, the Kigoma Urban seat went to CCM and the former CHADEMA candidate defected to CCM -- he is now a member of the EA Legislative Assembly for Tanzania (CCM).

Apart from using the EPA money in Kigoma Urban, it has been established that part of the money went to Songea Urban whereby a CCM candidate was facing a tough challenge from an opposition member.

East African Business Week is informed that one of the former staunch members of CHADEMA in Kigoma is a surety to one of the EPA scandal suspects.

Also, a substantial amount from one of the companies was paid to an influential sheikh who was campaigning against the ruling party. “The money was reportedly given to the sheikh to contain Moslems who had shown direct opposition to the ruling party,” a source said. The sheikh is now deceased.

East African Business Week has also been informed of the key suspect who has been all the time available but was yet to be interrogated by the presidential investigating team. The suspect, whose documents show that he is the director of the controversial Kagoda Agriculture Ltd which in eight weeks dished away more than $ 30 million from the EPA account may not appear before the team, for fear that he may “spill the beans.”

Although Kagoda was paid $ 30.7 million, a source said, the money that went into the elections was about $20 million due to the fact that “one of the party’s financiers had deducted the money he used in the 1995 and 2000 general elections.”

Again, although one of the committee’s top priorities has been to recover the monies involved, East African Business Week was told last week that some of the suspects had managed to transfer the monies before the committee took action.

As of last week, reports have it that some Tsh 60 billion ($48million) had been recovered although it was yet to be established if it was cash money or pledges.

Apart from the money, the investigation committee also targets property purchased from the transactions and steps have been taken to prevent sales of the assets especially those immovable property.

Following the discovery of the loss of about $133 million from the Bank of Tanzania (EPA Account) recently, President Kikwete fired the BoT Governor Daudi Ballali. About five senior staff of the bank had also been suspended in connection with the scandal.

However one of the BoT senior officers who was implicated in the Control and Auditor General’s Report was not suspended for reasons that he was “close to the authorities.”

Dotto Athumani
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