| |
 |
| VICE-PRESIDENT Dr. Ali Mohamed Shein holds the Olympic Torch at the Tazara Dar es Salaam Station shortly after it was lit for a historic relay through several streets in the city to the Main National Stadium. (Photo by courtesy of VPO) |
| TOP STORY :: | |
THE Tanzania Electric Supply Company (Tanesco) suffered a 137.9bn/- loss last financial year, the Controller and Auditor General
|
|
IT is almost certain that both parties to the Zanzibar mwafaka, CCM and CUF, are not keen on letting the voice of reason prevail. Current events attest to fact that it will take an extraordinary will for members of both parties to actualize the initial ag
The million-dollar question: Where did Chenge`s fortune come from?
 |
| MILLION-DOLLAR MAN: The former Attorney General and currently senior cabinet minister, and (INSET) a component of the 70bn/- radar system, to which he has now been linked as a possible corruption suspect in its 2002 purchase by the government. |
-New questions about integrity even as he denies radar bribery
THISDAY REPORTER
Dar es Salaam
THERE are new question-marks in the air about how the Minister for Infrastructure Development, Andrew Chenge, was able to stash away more than $1m (over 1.2bn/-) in offshore bank accounts from his meagre salary as a public official.
This follows a report in last Saturday’s edition of the UK Guardian newspaper that more than $1m has been discovered in offshore bank accounts controlled by Chenge, fuelling allegations that some of the funds originated from the 2002 radar deal.
Investigators from Britain’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO), which has been probing the ?28m (approx. 70bn/-) radar system deal, identified the money in Jersey accounts personally controlled by the senior minister and former attorney general.
According to the UK newspaper report, Chenge has not disputed the money in his offshore bank accounts, but he has denied suggestions that he received corrupt payments from Britain’s BAE Systems, manufacturers of the controversial radar sold to the Tanzanian government.
Chenge is quoted as saying he was only involved in minor aspects of the radar deal, which was promoted by other ministries and approved by the Tanzanian cabinet.
His bank records, he said, would show investigators that ’’there is no connection to the BAE Tanzanian radar deal’’.
It is understood that the Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau (PCCB), which has been working with authorities in the UK, Switzerland and Jersey, wants to establish if the money is linked to $12m (approx. 15bn/-) in secret commission payments made by BAE in connection with the radar deal.
Chenge was not available for comment yesterday. His mobile phone went unanswered several times when THISDAY attempted to contact him.
However, the ready admission by the minister that he has a million-dollar-plus fortune stashed away in offshore accounts abroad does raise new questions about his integrity and where the money may have come from, given past and present government salary rates.
Chenge has worked for the government for over three decades as a state attorney, attorney general, and cabinet minister.
At least one fellow cabinet minister has described the reports of Chenge’s previously-undeclared wealth as ’’quite shocking.’’
’’The amount of money we are talking about here is simply astonishing...such amounts of money are usually owned by governments, not individuals (within governments),’’ the minister conceded to THISDAY on condition of not being named.
Several members of parliament from the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) told THISDAY that the reports of the discovery of the massive wealth in Chenge’s personal bank accounts has dominated weekend discussions in Dodoma, where the National Assembly is currently in session.
’’We are all quite shocked about all this...Chenge has always looked prosperous, but we never suspected he could be an actual millionaire,’’ said one CCM lawmaker.
’’The big question is, how did he manage to amass such huge wealth? And did he declare this wealth to the government as public officials are supposed to?’’ the lawmaker added.
The often outspoken opposition legislator, Zitto Kabwe (Kigoma North-CHADEMA), described the allegations against Chenge as ’’very serious.’’
’’The minister must weigh the allegations against him, and take appropriate action,’’said Kabwe, adding: ’’If he deliberately failed to declare all his wealth as an MP, the National Assembly should seriously look into this matter.’’
Amongst those who fiercely opposed the Tanzanian radar deal from the outset was Britain’s former international development secretary, Ms Clare Short, who public said the sale - for which the Tanzanian government had to borrow yet more from a commercial bank - was corrupt and ’’stank’’.
A long-running investigation by Britain’s SFO discovered that a staggering 31 per cent of the deal’s contract price had been diverted via Switzerland, with around $12m in illegal commissions being paid to a Swiss bank account secretly controlled by middleman Shailesh Vithlani.
Investigators suspect some of this money was paid as bribes to several senior officials in the third phase government of ex-president Benjamin Mkapa, in order for them to approve the radar deal.
At the time, Chenge was serving as Attorney General - the government’s chief legal advisor.
Posts
