Energy and Minerals minister Prof Sospeter Muhongo
The recommendations include the sacking of Energy and Minerals minister Prof Sospeter Muhongo and permanent secretary Eliakim Maswi as well as Lands, Housing and Human Settlements minister Prof Anna Tibaijuka and Attorney General Frederick Werema.
Most people interviewed have applauded the reconciliation of differences between opposition party members and those of the ruling party through which the National Assembly was able to pass the resolutions after an impasse on Friday night.
They were of the view that the same reconciliation should have come into play during the deadlock when the proposed Constitution was being debated in the House earlier this year.
University of Dar es Salaam don Dr Benson Bana said debate on the saga has proved that reconciliation is often the best way to resolve difficult issues.
He said the decision by opposition legislators to remain in the debating chamber (instead of marching out in protest as they had threatened to do) helped to hold the government accountable “because if they had walked out, nothing of benefit to the nation would have been achieved”.
“The government must be very careful when making decisions, especially at this time when the country approaches the General Election lined up for late next year,” he said.
Seconding the view was Legal and Human Rights Centre Executive Director Dr Helen Kijo-Bisimba, who commended the opposition for exposing the scandal and forcing the government to take appropriate action against the suspects.
However, she warned on the possibility that the government will not work on the passed resolutions as drawn up and agreed by MPs.
Nuru Lyau of Dar es Salaam also hailed MPs for being “patriotic”, saying: “I commend Members of the National Assembly for showing unqualified patriotism on this matter from start to finish despite a few hitches.”“I also call upon the relevant authorities to take appropriate action as promptly as agreed in the House,” she added.
She was also of the opinion that, since the Controller and Auditor-General’s report confirms that the money was wrongly granted to Pan-African Power Solutions (PAP) and that is indeed taxpayers’ money, then the money should be returned to the people.
God Kuwela of Bunju in suburban Dar es Salaam meanwhile proposed that all suspects now in the public service should resign “to pave the way for investigations to take place”.
The 306-billion-shilling Tegeta escrow account scandal touched off national public concerns when the Parliamentary Public Account Committee (PAC) tabled in the House the shocking findings in its report last week.
The report concluded that the billions in question was taxpayer’s property and was fraudulently withdrawn and shared among influential figures, including serving and former high-ranking government officials, MPs judges and religious leaders.
The resolutions to sack the ministers and other top government officials were reached over the weekend at the climax of the debate on the PAC report on the withdrawal of more than 122 million US dollars from the escrow account established in 2006 following a dispute over capacity charges between the state-run Tanzania Electric Supply Company (Tanesco) and Independent Power Tanzania Limited (IPTL).
The two companies entered into a power purchase agreement but later Tanesco disputed the capacity charges on the grounds that IPTL had cheated on costs of investments.
The National Assembly then directed the government to investigate criminal dealings by PAP owner Habinder Sigh Sethi and take legal action against him over his fraudulent withdrawal of billions of shillings from the Tegeta escrow account.
Parliament agreed with PAC and CAG findings that PAP was not the legal owner of IPTL shares as it claimed because it did not follow procedures in purchasing the stake.
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