THE State has slapped a travel ban on
all former government officials mentioned in the second report on export of
copper concentrates presented to President John Magufuli on Monday. The
Minister for Home Affairs, Mr Mwigulu Nchemba, wrote on his instagram page on
Monday evening saying: “There is no patriotism that exceeds protection of
national resources. . . Congratulations honourable President for displaying
high level of patriotism by protecting national resources with actions. ” The
Minister added: “I order all officials mentioned (in the report) not to travel
outside the borders of the country, except under special government permit. I
order all security apparatus to implement the President’s directive with utmost
attention and high level of professionalism.” The Minister confirmed issuing
the order yesterday when contacted for comments by the media. “Yes, I have
issued the order as the message reads on my instagram page. They will not be
allowed to travel until State apparatuses complete the task,” Nchemba responded
in short. The Police Force, on its part, has vowed to reach every former
government official mentioned in the second report. Police Spokesperson Advera
Bulimba said no stone will be left unturned until all officials mentioned in
the report are summoned for questioning on their involvement in the rot. “When
the directives are issued, it becomes our responsibility to implement them. The
implementation of the directives is now going full throttle as we speak,” she
said. Asked further about the duty, the Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP)
replied: “We cannot divulge details about this operation. We don’t want to
spoil our moves or disturb our strategies.” Presenting the report to President
Magufuli on Monday, the Chairman of the probe team, Prof Nehemiah Osoro,
recommended summoning and questioning of officials involved in the shoddy
mining agreements, through which the nation incurred huge losses amounting to
between 68.6tri/- and 108tri/- in revenue from exporting mineral concentrates
from 1998 to 2017. Some of the individuals featuring in the report include
former ministers for energy and minerals -- Daniel Yona, the late Dr Abdallah
Kigoda, Nazir Karamagi, Wiliam Ngeleja and Professor Sospeter Muhongo. Others
are former commissioners of minerals -‑ Paulo Masanja and Dr Dalaly Kafumu, as
well as Acting Commissioner of Minerals Ally Samaje. Featured too are former
AGs (by virtual of which they were chief state legal advisors) Andrew Chenge
and Johnson Mwanyika. The list also includes former deputy AGs, Felix Mrema and
Sazi Salula as well as the heads of the contracts department, Maria Kejo and
Julius Malaba. The report proposed legal measures against workers and owners of
mining companies for violating the country’s laws. The team that presented the
second report on Monday consisted of economists and legal experts. It was
formed by President Magufuli to establish the amount and value of copper
concentrates exported since 1998 to 2017 for smelting. Having received the
report, the President upheld the ban he imposed on exportation of copper
concentrates. The report recommended for review of all Mineral Development
Agreements (MDAs) by Bunge, initiating the process to have a smelter in the
country and payment of all outstanding taxes and royalties. Meanwhile, Acacia
shares have tumbled by over 40 per cent since the gold concentrate saga rocked
the nation in the last one month. The shares went down to 7,800/- yesterday
from 13,260/- on May 12 as investors see a bleak profitability future in the
days ahead.
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