AfricaPress-Tanzania: THE Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau (PCCB), said they have so far verified that there was misuse of funds meant for 2019 Under -17 AFCON tournament as investigation continues.
This was said yesterday by the PCCB Director General, John Mbungo, who insisted that his bureau is continuing with the interrogation procedures of all those alleged to have been involved in the malpractice.
“We have discovered that there was misuse of the money but since we are still in the process of investigation, I cannot say a lot to avoid damaging the whole process,” Mbungo said.
He added that the next person to be summoned for questioning by his team is the president of the Tanzania Football Federation (TFF), Wallace Karia.
Furthermore, Mbungo narrated that they are also interrogating officials from the Ministry of Information, Culture, Arts and Sports, while those from the National Sports Council (NSC), have already been questioned.
TFF General Secretary, Wilfred Kidao is among the high profile figures from the federation, who have already been questioned by the PCCB so far.
Last month, PCCB announced to launch investigation of the 1bn/-which was donated by President John Magufuli to help the country’s Under-17 side Serengeti Boys in the preparations for the tournament which was held in the country. PCCB boss appealed for patience from the public as they continue with investigations.
“It is true that we are investigating possible mismanagement of donations made by president Magufuli and other stakeholders, which was channeled to help in the preparation of Serengeti Boys ahead of their 2019 U-17 AFCON finals,” Mbungo said on the day when he announced the start of the investigations.
He added that immediately after President Magufuli released the 1bn/-, other stakeholders also joined the donation campaign to help the team’s preparation of which he hints that it was misused.
Tanzania successfully hosted the competition in Dar es Salaam, which saw the county’s representatives performing poorly as they finished last in their group A category without winning any of their three matches.
They lost 5-4 to Nigeria, 3-0 to Uganda and another 4-2 setback from Angola hence missing the chance to clinch the prestigious title for the first time in the country’s history. Cameroon, who were packed in group B together with Senegal, Morocco and Guinea who won the title for the second time in their history.
