Prime Minister Mizengo Pinda.PICHA|MAKTABA
By Katare Mbashiru The Citizen Reporter
In Summary
But Mr Pinda remained optimistic, giving an
assurance that there should be no cause for alarm. He said, however, it
was unfortunate the donors’ action had adverse impacts on the country’s
development.
Dar es Salaam. Prime Minister
Mizengo Pinda has termed “unfair” the decision by 12 key donor countries
to suspend $558 million (Sh937 billion) aid in General Budget Support
(GBS) for the 2014/15 financial year.
Speaking in London, Mr Pinda said the donors
jumped the gun over the reported Sh201 billion Independent Power
Tanzania Limited (IPTL) escrow monies scandal. “The donors were unfair
to Tanzania in their action. They should have waited for the relevant
state agencies to release a report on the investigations,” Mr Pinda said
in an interview with the BBC Swahili television on Tuesday.
“I am asking myself why they were so quick to make such a decision when the matter was still under investigation,’’ he wondered.
Mr Pinda used the same live BBC interview to
officially confirm that he would be gunning for the CCM ticket to
succeed President Jakaya Kikwete in next year’s General Election. He
joins a growing list of ruling party cadres wanting to become president.
The Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau
(PCCB) and the Controller and Auditor General (PCCB) separately
conducted investigations into the payment of the escrow funds to Pan
Africa Power Solutions Tanzania Limited (PAP) in a scandalous IPTL take
over. The findings of the investigations are yet to be made public, but
may be tabled in Parliament in early November.
The Premier’s protest was the first time that a
top official in the executive was making a direct comment following a
move by Finland, Sweden, Denmark, the European Commission, Ireland,
Germany, Britain, Norway, Canada, Japan, the World Bank as well as the
African Development Bank to withhold budget funding.
Government execution of certain projects has taken
an early hit with Ms Kati Manner, the head of cooperation at the
Finnish Embassy (GBS chair), confirming only $69 million (Sh110 billion)
of the total pledges has been released to the Treasury.
But Mr Pinda remained optimistic, giving an
assurance that there should be no cause for alarm. He said, however, it
was unfortunate the donors’ action had adverse impacts on the country’s
development.
The donors have made it clear that they would be
in a position to take a different action only when the government makes
public the findings of the CAG investigation.
The government has already reached out to IMF to
find a solution on how it could help fix the budget gap, with commercial
borrowing and more austerity measures being considered upfront to
forestall a budget crisis as huge public expenditure programmes tax the
State. Among them are plans for a referendum on the proposed new
constitution, bio-metric voter registration kits (BVRs) and preparations
for the local government elections slated for December. Others are the
ongoing issuance of the national identity cards (IDs), preparations for
the 2015 General Election and the rollout of projects in the health,
infrastructure, energy and education sectors. A huge chunk of the donor
money is usually directed to the social sectors.
On his presidential ambition, Mr Pinda said while
he has made the decision to run, he was yet to make it official. “We
have many people who have declared their intention to vie for the
country’s top job, and I find it good in terms of politics. The most
important task lies with Tanzanians who will finally make rational and
informed decisions to decide who fits this position better,’’ he said
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