People to watch as PAC tables escrow findings

Dodoma/Dar es Salaam. The wait is finally over. Tanzanians will today get to know what really transpired in the case of the Sh306 billion--including Sh207 billion ($122 million) of the escrow money kept at the Bank of Tanzania (BoT).

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) Chairman, Mr Zitto Kabwe, will table the findings of the Controller and Auditor General (CAG) on the famous Tegeta escrow scandal--and the tough recommendations by the committee against all those implicated in the scam.

The move comes as Pan African Power Solutions Tanzania Limited (PAP)--the company that claimed to have legally acquired 70 per cent of Independent Power Tanzania Limited (IPTL) from the Malaysian firm Mechmar--went to court yesterday in an attempt to stop Parliament from debating the CAG’s report in Parliament.

But National Assembly Speaker Anne Makinda stood firm, assuring lawmakers that the House would discuss the escrow dossier as planned. Parliament would not be deterred by PAP’s move, Ms Makinda said and anyone was free to go to court. She urged MPs to prepare for a thorough debate today.

The report will be tabled against a background of propaganda, death threats and numerous attempts by senior government officials to ensure that the report is not tabled in the House as agreed in July.

Yesterday, Mr David Kafulila (Kigoma South) received a threatening text message that said:  “I think you have decided to die for seeking stupid popularity…I feel sorry about you because you don’t know who you are fighting. This is the last message to you and if you don’t believe, you will believe when you are in your grave.”

Mr Kafulila took the matter to the police for further investigations.

The scandal, which broke out in March, when The Citizen became the first and only newspaper to reveal it, has divided lawmakers. Reports from Dodoma show that despite the findings by CAG report, backed by damning testimony from the Director General of Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau (PCCB) Dr Edward Hoseah, there are diehard MPs who still defend the deal as a very clean transaction.

These MPs, some accused of receiving bribes, will try to persuade the House and the nation that what transpired was simply a private business transaction  initiated and concluded by the High Court of Tanzania through a consent judgment by Judge Utamwa J.

When the matter was tabled in the House in July, Mwibara constituency MP Kangi Lugola led the battle in defending the deal, dismissing evidence tabled by Mr David Kafulila (Kigoma South) and Christopher ole Sendeka (Simanjiro) as mere paper best used for wrapping bread. This time, though, the outspoken MP from the ruling party is believed to have joined the anti-escrow scandal camp. The Citizen could not independently verify these claims, though.

There will also be Ms Anne Kilango-Malecela, the anti-graft crusader who used to crucify the pro-Richmond deal in the first five years of President Kikwete’s government before she changed her stance.

Ms Kilango has been in the forefront in Dodoma trying to persuade MPs that the deal was clean. Her son, William, has been running a blog that discredits all those who are against the scandal since the current sitting of Parliament started early  this month.

There will also be the anti-escrow squad of MPs led by Mr Kafulila (opposition), Mr Sendeka (CCM), Mr Peter Serukamba (CCM), Mr James Lembeli (CCM), Ambassador Hamis Kagasheki (CCM), Esther Bulaya (CCM), Mr Tundu Lissu (acting leader of opposition), Mr James Mbatia (opposition) and John Mnyika (opposition).

The anti-escrow list may be longer than this considering that despite tabling the report, Mr Kabwe and his deputy Deo Filikunjombe(CCM) would also have a chance to debate the motion.

Unlike the debate in July, when the CCM MPs except Mr Sendeka left the anti-escrow debate to opposition lawmakers, the group opposed to the deal has gathered support from both sides this time.

To defend the government in this deal will be Prime Minister Mizengo Pinda, who ordered the investigation but ended up working hard to stop the tabling of the CAG’s report in Parliament.

Though he is not directly accused of any wrongdoing, the way he handled the escrow saga could backfire against him should both CCM and opposition lawmakers decide to take the path they took in February 2008--when they forced former Prime Minister Edward Lowassa and other two cabinet ministers to resign.

Mr Pinda had a narrow escape in 2012, when Parliament forced eight cabinet ministers to resign. He came out on top again  last year, when three other cabinet ministers resigned over the special operation to fight poaching.

Joining Mr Pinda in trying to curb the anti-escrow group will be the Minister for Energy and Minerals, Prof Sospeter Muhongo, who has repeatedly defended the deal as a clean one and dismissed escrow critics as unpatriotic.

A section of the media(not The Citizen), yesterday linked Prof Muhongo with Mr Mbarouk Mohammed, who was arrested on Sunday night on suspicion of breaking into parliament offices and stealing documents related to CAG’s report.

Source: THE CITIZEN