Bird’s eye view of corruption scandals in Tanzania

FOLLOWING the death of a former Bank of Tanzania (BOT) Governor, the late Dr. Daudi Ballali which occurred in Washington DC in USA towards the end of May 2008, Tanzanian government has come under intense pressure from the public over his death as he is considered to be a prime suspect in a multi-billion financial scandal currently facing the BOT. Activists and the media personnel have strove to investigate and bring to law the masterminds of misappropriated funds especially those under External Payment Arrears (EPA) account operated by Bank of Tanzania (BOT), Richmond saga, dubious mining contracts and many others. The public has demanded the release of names of people involved in the scandal and their immediate persecution but this has since ended up in vain. EPA scandal alone consists of fraudulent payment of about Tshs. 133 billion (US$ 116 million) made by BOT to 22 ghost companies in the financial year 2005/06 involving the payment of the country’s external debt.

The late Dr. Daudi Ballali who died in an hospital in Washington DC-USA towards the end of May 2008. His mysterious death is still a subject of debate among most Tanzanians.

According to a recent government pronouncement, nearly half of the money (Tshs. 60 million) had mysteriously found its way back into state coffers. The Attorney General and the Inspector General of Police refused to disclose the names at this stage, pleading for patience because the investigations were still going on. Speculation has been rife as to why the government would rather recover the loot than prosecute? While others believe that the government may be shielding the culprits, and the most plausible reason seem to be that the government has figured out that it has a weak case against the culprits in a court of law.
The now famous Richmond scandal where Richmond Development Company Ltd struck a lucrative deal to generate electricity for national grid for the detriment of the nation’s economy, saw the government almost collapsing. Therefore, this may yet be another scandal similar to the mining contracts that later had to be negotiated.

Former Tanzanian Prime Minister, Edward Lowassa, his resignation came after he was implicated to have been involved in a Richmond saga as a prime suspect.

When Richmond saga was uncovered, President Kikwete’s right hand man, Edward Lowassa was forced to resign as the Prime Minister, echoed by two other ministers, Nazir Karamagi, former Energy and Mineral Minister, as well as the Dr. Ibrahim Msabaha who headed the same Ministry before.

Former Minister for Energy and Minerals, Mr. Nazir Karamagi who is also linked to Richmond saga the second to resign from the cabinet

The BOT scandal has already claimed its governor as its first casualty, Dr. Daudi Ballali who was fired by President Jakaya Kikwete in early January this year after he was implicated in the investigative reports carried out by government’s Controller General (CAG) and the accounting and audit firm, EMST & Young.

Dr. Ibrahim Msabaha, former Energy Minister during third phase government. He is the third Minister to resign.

Following this, the President had dissolved his government and made several cabinet reshuffles following multi-million dolar scandals. Anti-graft war is gaining momentum than never before. It is the limelight today his political bigwigs looted public funds for personal gains, and perhaps unfounded institutional uses.
Analysts predict that, the President as a person might be hard hit by the anti-graft war after another Minister resigned again. This is the Infrastructure Development Minister, Andrew Chenge who served as Attorney General in the third government phase which Kikwete worked as a foreign Minister. Mr. Chenge is currently under investigations over corruption allegations in the purchase of military radar linked to a British Air company that manufacturers military weapons.

Mr. Adrew Chenge, Former Infrastructure Development Minister was also forced to resign in the on-going radar scandal. Mr. Chenge, a professional lawyer had been holding a position of the State Attorney General for the last ten years.

With investigations mounted by Kikwete’s administration and the parliament unearthing massive looting including the Bank of Tanzania, some of which claimed to have been used in financing political campaigns, stakeholders of politics now challenge the government to enact a law which will be monitoring funds used by political parties in the campaign as it was promised by President Kikwete.