Africa-Press – Tanzania. FOUR employees with the National Bank of Commerce (NBC), Mbagala Branch, appeared before the Kisutu Resident Magistrate’s Court in Dar es Salaam on Thursday charged with stealing over 243m/-.
They are Grace Mwakisyombe (50), a resident of Temeke, Patrick Muga (53), who resides at Kongowe Galawe, Rahma Mkomba (36), who is living in Ilala and Ahmed Hassan (34), a resident of TDA Ngoma.
All accused persons denied the charge before Senior Resident Magistrate Augustina Mbando. The magistrate granted bail to the accused persons on conditions of each depositing in court cash bail of 30,804,438/-.
In the alternative, the magistrate ordered each accused person to surrender in court the title deed of immovable property of the same value. Furthermore, each accused was ordered to secure two reliable sureties, who were ready to present a copy of their identity cards.
The case was adjourned to September 8, 2021, for mention, as investigations into the matter, according to the prosecution, led by Yussuf Aboud, have not been completed.
Prosecuting, the trial attorney told the court that between March 3 and April 30, 2018 at NBC Mbagala Branch in Temeke District in Dar es Salaam region, the accused persons, jointly and together, stole 243,270,550/-, belonging to their employer.
Meanwhile, the other application lodged by Human Rights Activist Odero Charles to challenge the introduction of transfer and withdrawal levies on mobile transactions will be known on September 8, 2021.
Judge John Mugeta is expected to deliver his ruling on the matter after going through competing submissions presented by parties on some grounds of objections raised by the respondents in the matter to oppose the application.
In the application, Odero, the applicant, asks the permission of the court to apply for judicial review on regulations published by the Minister for Finance and Planning, who has been sued in the matter alongside the Attorney General, as the respondents.
However, the Solicitor General, Mr Gabriel Malata, who is appearing for the respondents, has raised some grounds of objections, requesting the High Court in Dar es Salaam to dismiss with costs the application for being incompetent, untenable in law and frivolous.
A similar application, which is set to be determined on the same date, was lodged by the Legal and Human Rights Centre, which also seeks to oppose the introduction of transfer and withdrawal levies on mobile money transactions, which has also been strongly opposed by the respondents.
The main gist of the opposition by the respondents is to the effect that the two applications are incompetent because the regulations published under Government Notice No. 496 were made by the minister in execution of his constitutional duty of looking for sources of government’s revenues.
