FORMER Minister for Home Affairs Kangi Lugola was on Friday grilled by top executives of the Prevention and Combating of €Corruption Bureau (PCCB) in Dodoma for five hours, telling reporters a few minutes after the session “I am doing just fine.”
The bureau summoned the former high-profile minister along with his former permanent secretary, Ambassador Jacob Kingu and the commissioner for fire and rescue force, Thobias Andengenye, to account for an alleged trillion shillings suspicious contract.
The 56-year-old Mwibara Member of Parliament arrived at the bureau’s Dodoma office holding the ruling party’s constitution at 7:24 am.
He was scheduled to respond to its queries within three hours but the session hit a record of 310 minutes (five hours and ten minutes).
It wasn’t immediately established what the terms of reference used in the meeting or the team placed to question the currently ordinary lawmaker were.
But Lugola made his way to the session in his favourite dark-grey political suit.
He wore a shy smile as he exited the main entrance at the PCCB building and conveyed greetings to a team of members of the media who had been tensely waiting at the car parking lot.
“How are you all doing?” he asked, negotiating his way through a dark land cruiser V8 with registration T 657 DFL that was adjacent.
He told reporters that he was doing fine, but couldn’t disclose what transpired during his meeting with the anti-corruption watchdog.
‘Daily News’ witnessed the former PS, Maj Gen Kingu, arriving at the bureau in a government vehicle at around 10:44 am. He was expected to be grilled by the anti-corruption unit until late afternoon.
The fire and rescue force commissioner Andengenye was to appear before the superintendents from 2:00 pm.
PCCB is working under the order of President John Magufuli to investigate whether there were scores of corruption deeds.
The Head of State had accused Lugola, over lack of integrity and mismanaging a 408million EURO contract.
The fire department had signed a memorandum of understanding in which the president says part of the agreement stipulated that “In an event the contract is nullified, all activities that had been implemented will continue to be implemented.”
The contract involved the purchase of modern firefighting and rescue equipment to transform the ailing unit.
Immediately after firing the cabinet minister, the president appointed Minister in the Vice-President Union and Environment George Simbachawene to replace him.
