Africa-Press – Tanzania. PRIME Minister Kassim Majaliwa yesterday ordered a special audit to five ports under the Tanzania Ports Authority (TPA) as he suspended two top financial bigwigs.
The Premier instructed the Controller and Auditor General (CAG) to conduct a special audit at Dar es Salaam, Mwanza, Mtwara, Tanga and Kyela ports for the alleged abuse of misuse of public funds.
The suspended officials include the TPA Director of Finance and Accounts Ms Nuru Mhando and the Finance and Expenditure Manager, Ms Witness Mahela.
The two have been suspended to pave the way for investigation.
Mr Majaliwa made the decision yesterday after receiving the report on the special audit by CAG on financial reports of the port of Kigoma for the year 2017/18 and 2018/19.
The audit was carried out to confirm whether there was abuse of public funds.
Present at the meeting was the Minister of Works and Transport Dr Leonard Chamuriho, the Director General of Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau (PCCB) Brig Gen John Mbungo, the Director of Criminal Investigations (DCI) Robert Boaz as well as TPA Board of Directors and the TPA management.
Cognizant of the fact that TPA carries the backbone of Tanzania’s economy, Mr Majaliwa asked the TPA Board of Directors to properly supervise the management team and make sure they take serious and immediate measures against any of the staff who violates the existing rules and regulations.
According to the Premier, the Kigoma port had denied the government revenue of more than 2bn/- after granting tax exemption to Simba Cement Company despite the fact that the request was denied by the exemption committee.
“Despite the increase in revenue collection, but the government gets only 70 per cent of the collection, the remaining per cent goes to the unfaithful individuals. We are very much disappointed with what has been disclosed by the CAG report at the Port of Kigoma,” he said.
Expounding further, the Premier said TPA authorised payment of 8.2bn/- to the Port of Kigoma for various payments, knowing that it has a limit of 7.4bn/-.
“The money was widely misallocated; we have learnt that 900m/- was paid to one of the business men in Kigoma, Mr Eliya Mtinyako. The payment was issued while there were no documents to justify the transaction, since the recipient has no record of supplying anything to the TPA. He has never bid for any tender, he was paid while there was no invoice,” revealed the Prime Minister.
Despite the huge loss of money, the accountant of Kigoma Port, Mr Madaraka Madaraka cleared from the database the debt worth over one billion that different customers owed the port, a move that caused a loss to the government, said the Premier, quoting the CAG report.
The CAG report also unveiled unaccounted payment of more than 2bn/- that was paid without observing due procedures, and once asked, the accountants said they were following instruction from TPA headquarters.
“Moreover, the auditors found the presence of 150 cheques that were already signed by all signatories, remaining open for anyone who is in need of any amount. This is contrary to the government procedures,” Mr Majaliwa further revealed.
“This is fraud, and we can’t let this happen in a big institution like TPA, this money could have been spent on construction of dispensaries or a number of rural roads being supervised by TARURA,” noted Mr Majaliwa.
The Prime Minister hence instructed DCI Boaz to ensure Mr Mtinyako and Madaraka are arrested and investigation should be conducted to those who have been suspended, and they should face charges if they will be involved in the fraud.
Moreover, he instructed the PCCB boss Brig Gen Mbungo to launch an investigation against Mr Kalibilo who received a huge amount of money while there was no document to justify such transactions to a public servant.
“The CAG report has shown that Mr Kalibilo received 55m/- in August, 53m/- in September, 37m/- in October, while in November he was paid 19m/-. He must be arrested for the truth to be known, why he received this entire amount,” he said.
In another development, Mr Majaliwa maintained his order that TPA should open its Kagunga Port in Kigoma District in January, next year.
The port is one of the country’s strategic terminals on Lake Tanganyika in Kagunga ward as it attracts traders from DR Congo and Burundi.
Mr Majaliwa said the construction of Kagunga Port was completed in 2017 involving a passengers’ longue, a servant house and other special buildings at a cost of 3.8bn/-, but to date the port has remained dormant.
