Head of Tanzania's anti-graft agency says dozens interviewed over $122 million that a government report says was plundered from an account at the central bank.
DAR ES SALAAM, Jan 17 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - The Tanzanian government warned more arrests are coming in a $122 million energy scandal that has prompted foreign donors to delay aid and led to the arrest of two senior public officials.
Edward Hosea, head of the anti-graft agency the Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau, told Thomson Reuters Foundation that his agency has interrogated dozens of people about the energy scam, which investigators say reaches high into President Jakaya Kikwete’s government. Every official who benefited will face charges, he said.
“Our investigators and prosecutors are working hard to prepare the charges. The accused persons will be taken to court as soon as possible,” Hosea said in an interview on Friday.
Two senior public servants were brought before a local court on Wednesday, the first to face corruption charges after the government released a report in November on the plundering of $122 million from an escrow account held at Tanzania’s central bank. The report said fraudulent payments were made to offshore bank accounts and disguised as payments for energy contracts.
Tanzania for years has been critically short of reliable electricity and the state-run power company Tanesco has been plagued by corruption scandals, although this appears to be on a larger scale.
Foreign donors including the United Kingdom, Germany and the World Bank are withholding $449 million out of $558 million in annual budget support pledged to the country until Tanzania takes what they call “appropriate actions” against corruption.
Parliament in December urged the president to sack his Attorney General Frederick Werema and Energy Minister Sospeter Muhongo, whom it accused of authorising a fraudulent transfer from the escrow account, held jointly by Tanesco and Independent Power Tanzania Limited (IPTL), the company it had contracted with to address the country’s power shortages.
Muhongo has said the money rightly belonged to IPTL as part of a contract it signed with the government. The parliamentary oversight committee said the money had been shared among public servants and people in the private sector. The attorney general has since resigned.
Ruzonzibwa Mujunangoma and Theophilo Bwakea, both senior government officials, were charged on Wednesday with receiving bribes worth Tanzanian Shillings 323.4 million (US $177,436) and 161.7 million (US $88,718) respectively from James Rugemalila, an international consultant and former IPTL shareholder. They denied the charges and were released on bail.
Kikwete in December sacked Anna Tibaijuka, a former United Nations official who served as land minister after she had received $1 million in her personal bank account from the same business tycoon. She denied any wrongdoing saying the money was a donation to a school where she is the principal fundraiser.
The anti-graft agency would not comment on who was among the officials it intends to charge.
Donors have insisted that they would only release the rest of the aid once tougher actions are taken against corruption. The country relies on foreign aid to support 20-30 percent of its annual budget, making it one of the biggest aid recipients in Sub-Sahara Africa.
“We are still holding a dialogue with the government. When we reach a position of consensus we will consider withdrawing the suspension, but for now the support programmes are still suspended,” said Dianna Melrose, British High Commissioner to Tanzania.
Zitto Kabwe, the chairman of a parliamentary committee on public accounts, is pressing for greater openness in the energy sector, including the vetting of contracts by lawmakers.
“Corruption in the energy sector can be reduced by introducing strong accountability systems in the sector,” Kabwe told Thomson Reuters Foundation.
((Editing by Stella Dawson))
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