Charles Ekelege, Former Director of the Tanzania Bureau of Standards (TBS)
This was said yesterday at the Kisutu Resident Magistrate’s court where the case facing him came up for hearing before Resident Magistrate Augustina Mmbando.
Ekelege is being charged with two counts of abuse of office and occasioning a loss of over Sh68m/-.
He is alleged to have waived 50 per cent of fees, worth $442,543 to Jaffar Mohamed Ali and Quality Motors Companies without the consent of the watchdog’s executive council, contrary to TBS regulations.
In his testimony, the first witness in the case, Batista Bitao, a lawyer at TBS, was led by Janet Machulya, a state attorney from the Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau (PCCB).
He claimed that at a board meeting the management presented the request to approve the waiver for the two companies.
He further claimed that in 2007 and 2009 he was invited to a meeting of the TBS board of directors, now known as executive council.
However, there was no discussion on the waiver of administrative fees until 2011. At a similar meeting the management submitted information on the waiver for the two companies, including details to apologize for the error of exemption without permission of the council.
He claimed that the board forgave the management, but instructed it not to repeat the mistake.
He added that among TBS obligations is to ensure that all motor vehicles imported to the country adhere to standards and meet the required quality.
However, he continued to allege, TBS falsely entered into a contract with foreign companies as agents, namely Quality Motors of Hong Kong and Jaffar Mohamed Ali Garage of Dubai.
The second witness, Joshua Katabwa, an engineer in the TBS Certification Department, claimed that the agent was supposed to pay TBS 25 percent in administrative fees, according to the agreement.
He claimed that on March 28, 2008 Ekelege told him to prepare a letter of exemption of 50 percent for the two companies, namely Quality Motors of Hong Kong and Jaffar Mohamed Ali Garage of Dubai.
According to the prosecution, the accused committed the offence on March 28, 2008 and August 7, 2009 at TBS offices when he was serving as director general.
Ekelege first appeared in court on November 8 last year when he denied the charges and was released on bail.
The vehicle inspection scam, which led to the suspension of the TBS boss, came to light a few months after the Parastatal Organizations Accounts Committee (POAC), a parliamentary subcommittee, revealed that TBS did not inspect motor vehicles abroad, contrary to its records and proclamations.
The parliamentary committee’s report showed that TBS provided the oversight team with wrong information on motor vehicle inspection offices in various countries.
SOURCE:
THE GUARDIAN
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