REA seal out alleged bribed rural contractors

Experts sent by Rural Energy Agency (REA) to investigate attitudes of the allegedly malicious contractors who breached the contents of the National rural electricity power supply deal two months ago seems to have hit a snag. Speaking in an exclusive interview on Wednesday this week in Dar es Salaam, REA’s Director General Dr Lutengano Mwakahesya confirmed that, the affected victims who seemed to be customers could not be in a position to reveal the contractors allegedly to have taken bribes from them. He said in that manner, his experts failed to identify contractors who in one way or another might have involved directly in breaching contractual agreement entered by receiving bribes from rural dwellers who, couldn’t be in a position to disclose their names when contacted for verifications. He further stressed that, what his experts came to know over the saga is the fact that, some rural dwellers had willingly accepted to subcontract them on a mutual agreement for the purpose of doing wiring in their houses in readiness for electrification process. Two months ago, REA dispatched a team of ten experts to investigate allegations raised by the Parliamentary standing committee on Energy and minerals that some firms contracted by REA during the first phase of rural electrification process which ended on 31^st December 2013 had solicited bribes from rural dwellers. The allegations were raised in presence of the Energy and Minerals Minister Professor Sospeter Muhongo had it that, ‘rural contractors were charging villagers Tsh. 200.000 up to Tsh 300,000 as cost of one electricity supply poles contrary to what the government has set’. Dr Mwakahesya was earlier quoted as saying that, the allegations had shocked and tarnished his agency’s reputation and the management team as a whole and promised to dispatch a team of experts to investigate the whole saga. He also noted that, such allegations were surrounding the faulty four lake zone regions that included Mwanza, Simiyu, Sengerema- Geita region and Shinyanga,  In his clarification, the alleged reports were not true and thought of continued public awareness to the people in order to make them understand thoroughly on what the rural contractors are doing for the people in their areas of operation. He further noted that, what he came to discover is the misunderstanding on the contractual agreement entered between contractors and rural dwellers that are in need of having their houses installed with electricity and in view of this, had approached contractors do the wiring systems for them as extra job. He queried the legality of someone to do the job free of charge just because he is an electrician doing the work for REA in rural areas if it was fair to do that.  However, Dr. Mwakahesya is of the view that, if contractors had entered a contract with house owners in rural areas for wiring their houses, then had all rights to be paid by them and added that, this should not be regarded as a bribe taken.  He concluded that, thorough investigations by a team of experts from his agency has discovered that, the money extorted from villagers were for the contractual work the two had agreed as part time job for wiring and not bribes issued in place of electricity poles as alleged earlier. In the list of allegedly law breaking contractors, Dr Mwakahesya earlier mentioned one firm, NAMIS Corporate Limited was among others in the list, declining to disclose the remaining saying, factors on the ground were still not rip enough. Preliminary investigations by The Guardian over the matter when first released by the media had an interview with the Managing Director for NAMIS Corporate Limited Mr. Thomas Uiso and on the other side, the firm’s Chief Engineer, Shaidu Luther, both refuted the allegations. Meanwhile, the wrangle of words between REA and the power supply contractors is coming up just when the government has announced a reduction charges for electricity power service line connection for rural dwellers in the countrywide starting from February 2014 up to May 2015. The Energy minister Prof. Muhongo announced the cost for service line for rural dwellers at an affordable price of T Sh. 27,000 instead of Sh. 177,000. The minister said that the current rate was aimed at promoting power utilization in the rural areas as by now the government has embarked on the second phase of the rural electrification project to be run between February 2014 and May 2015. He said the rate of reduction which has come down to approximately 600 percent is to accomplish the government’s vision for development by 2015 that all Tanzanians including rural dwellers should have access to electricity power by 30 percent. “The reduction is only for the people in rural areas who are served under REA’s integrated program whose budget the government had set for Sh. 881 billion for two years respectively which ends up to May 2015” Prof. Muhongo who is a geologist by profession insisted.