Big heads most likely to roll

• As House team report casts searchlight on four officials over suspect deals in Tanzanite trade

THE verdict is out. Four high ranking officials comprising sitting and former cabinet ministers have been accused of abuse of power which orchestrated the signing of dubious Tanzanite-related contracts, occasioning loss to the government of multi-million dollars in revenues.

A Parliamentary Select Committee formed by National Assembly Speaker Job Ndugai to thoroughly examine the systems, procedures, ownership, regulatory and trade of the blue gemstone - Tanzanite has confirmed the longstanding claim linking state officials to dubious mining contracts.

The verdict was a huge shock to parliamentarians and other senior government officials who flocked Parliament grounds, eager to know the findings of the two reports submitted to the National Assembly Speaker after a two-month-long assessment process.

And today, the Prime Minister, Mr Kassim Majaliwa, is expected to submit the reports to President John Magufuli at the State House. The premier vowed that the government would take appropriate measures against whoever had been implicated in wrongdoing.

Those to whom the searchlight has been cast include the current Minister in the Office of the President (Regional Administration and Local Governments), Mr George Simbachawene, Deputy Minister of Works, Transport and Communication, Engineer Edwin Ngonyani. Others are former Energy and Minerals Ministers, Prof Sospeter Muhongo and Mr William Ngeleja.

As Cabinet minister, Prof Muhongo has been forced twice into early retirement after being implicated in the controversial Tegeta Escrow Account and the recent President John Magufuli-commissioned report on mineral concentrates.

Mr Ngeleja was fired by former President Jakaya Kikwete after being implicated in a corruption scam. Following the escrow scandal, he, too, was forced to resign as a Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee for Energy and Minerals.

Ngeleja is accused of violating Section 2 of the Mining Act No 49 of 2010 by awarding a foreign firm, Tanzanite One, a mining area covering 7.6kmsq as opposed to 1kmsq spelled out in the mining licence.

The former minister also delayed to review the contract when the government decided that all the gemstone be mined by Tanzanians or through a 50/50 joint venture. Prof Muhongo too was accused of issuing licence No 490/2013 without abiding by procedures, including a recommendation from the mineral board.

Committee Chairman, Mr Doto Biteko, told Speaker Ndugai and Prime Minister Mr Kassim Majaliwa, that such anomalies resulted in the government losing 157.2bn/-. In addition, Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA) also could not account for 18bn/-.

Regarding sitting Cabinet Minister Mr Simbachawene, the report shows that only within seven days after the former deputy minister was promoted to full minister, he signed the government share transfer without consulting the Attorney General (retired), Mr Fredrick Werema, Minerals Commissioner, Eng Paul Masanja and the Bunge Committee on Energy and Minerals.

“The committee cast doubts on the rush by the minister to sign the share transfer,” said Mr Biteko, adding that even the recommendation by the then AG says, “the contract was prepared by a foreign firm and had no consent of the AG’s office.” The transfer of share has, however, not benefited the government, be it in capital gain tax or dividend, the report said.

Further details revealed that Engineer Ngonyani, in his capacity as a senior government official, advised the government not to reclaim/buy Tanzanite One shares when it was floated into market and instead participated in the facilitation of Sky Associate Limited to buy the share, promising there would be free rights to the state owned firm Stamico.

“He (Eng Ngonyani) was later appointed board member of Sky Associate Limited, the company that had no legal documents for operating in the country,” the committee said in its report.

In its general findings, the committee found that while the global tanzanite trade for the last 12 years indicate that over 8.2trn/- worth Tanzanite had been traded, TRA documents show only 454bn/-, meaning over 80 per cent of Tanzanite is exported unchecked.

The committee recommended immediate termination of the contract between Stamico and Tanzanite One, on grounds that was not beneficial to the country.

It also proposed establishment of a special Tanzanite company and Tanzanite protection law to spare the country of revenue losses. In his remarks before presenting the reports to the Prime Minister, Mr Ndugai took a swipe at some Tanzanians who were downplaying the government’s efforts to protect the natural resources.

He further told investors who were not ready to make sure that the government was benefiting from the natural resources the country was endowed with to leave the country.

The leader of the official opposition in Parliament, Mr Freeman Mbowe, commended the Speaker for forming the two teams, but he was quick to point out that the two reports should be tabled in Parliament for debate so that the august House can advise the Executive, accordingly.