Tegeta escrow or just a scarecrow, you decide

 

By Saumu Jumanne

In Summary

The simplest definition of escrow is money held by a third-party on behalf of transacting parties while a scarecrow is a decoy or mannequin. Village farmers use scarecrow to keep birds off their farms.

As 2014 comes to a close, the word ‘escrow’ in Tanzania’s domain sounds like scarecrow -- thanks to Tegeta escrow account saga that has left our nation reeling and riveted.

From villages to towns, it has been the talk of the nation, with the masses’ patience wearing thin with expectations of who would face the axe next.

The simplest definition of escrow is money held by a third-party on behalf of transacting parties while a scarecrow is a decoy or mannequin. Village farmers use scarecrow to keep birds off their farms.

Why link the two? When the country was tensely following the last Bunge session, it seemed the saga was a mammoth corruption scandal, but now some parties, want to show that it was just a scarecrow and not real.

There are people in this country -- up to now -- who will look at you straight in the eye and tell you, it was a scandal that never was. For them, it was just ‘fitina’ to get some people sacked.

From the word go, there was massive efforts to cover up and normalize the saga, but by the current going, it seems there is no closure in sight. Maybe, in decades to come, the case will be cited as a defining moment for our beloved motherland.

As the three pillars tackle the matter, wananchi are still in confusion – was the money public or private or both? As for the hope of some money being recovered, we can go and ask the birds…

But for now, the biggest danger I see is the erosion of morals among our youth due to the ongoing debates about the account and subsequent happenings.

Here’s a conversation I heard recently in a daladala.

Young man: If some MPs, including ministers, can accept hefty gifts worth billions of shillings from some businessmen, can they really maintain their allegiance to the people?

Young woman: If someone wants to get rich quickly, all they need to do is simply join politics, and easy money will start flowing in. One can also do business with the government.

Young man: If Nyerere and Edward Sokoine were still alive, I don’t think this would have happened. It was our tax that sent them to school, now they’re turning against us. Whether educated or not, if one is a thief, then he will remain so.