THE Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) Mr Biswalo Mganga yesterday handed over a total of 46.177 kilogrammes of gold worth 3.266bn/- to the government.
The minerals are part of properties that had been recovered from various individuals who had obtained them illegally.
Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Finance and Planning Mr Doto James received the confiscated properties on behalf of the government.
Apart from gold, the list of other minerals that were confiscated after being smuggled out of the country included Tanzanite, ruby, diamond, sapphire and silver, among others.
The DPP also announced the confiscation of 24 residential houses, 65 vehicles, 6,894 pieces of timber, two farms, nine plots, one boat and one dhow.
According to Mr Mganga, from 2018, the government has managed to recover and nationalise a total of 397.937 kilogrammes of gold, worth 32.7bn/-.
“Some 321 kilogrammes of gold that were valued at 29.08bn/- had already been handed over to the Treasury as it was required,” said the DPP.
On the other hand, the DPP revealed that the government has so far collected a total of 12.3bn/- from plea-bargaining arrangement with people who were facing criminal charges.
The money had been collected from 341 defendants in 104 cases countrywide, said Mr Mganga.
“I would like to remind those who have signed agreement of paying the money, to do so otherwise they will face consequences like the renewal of charges that had been dropped,” insisted the DPP.
The recovery of properties that were illegally owned, nationalisation of minerals that were smuggled outside the country and collection of huge amounts through plea-bargaining, marks the milestone achievement for the government in a short period.
“This was possible because of the bravery of placing forward national interest,” he said. It was revealed that one of the houses that have been nationalised is in Dodoma and was owned by a staff with the Mining Commission.
“He was tasked with keeping the confiscated minerals but he eventually sold the minerals,” he explained.
The handover event was attended by a section of senior public officials among them, the Minister for Constitutional and Legal Affairs Dr Augustine Mahiga, Minister for Finance and Planning Dr Philip Mpango, Minister for Minerals Doto Biteko, the Bank of Tanzania (BoT) Governor, Prof Florens Luoga and PCCB acting director general, Brigadier General John Mbungo.
In July last year, President John Magufuli received 35.4 kg of gold worth 2bn/- from Kenya which was seized at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in February 2018.
The gold was handed to the President by Kenya’s foreign minister Ms Monica Juma who led a high profile delegation that was sent by Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta.
The gold was smuggled through Mwanza Airport before it was seized in Nairobi shortly before it could be flown abroad.
The delegation also handed to Dr Magufuli 170m/-, US dollars 77,000 and Ksh 176,100, which was robbed in 2004 at NBC Mwanga branch, Kilimanjaro region.
