Missing containers saga: more to be arrested

By The guardian reporter

Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIGP) Abdulrahmani Kaniki

 More Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA) officials and their accomplices from the private sector implicated in the ‘missing containers’ saga will be arrested and prosecuted in an ‘ongoing’ exercise to bring sanity to the tax office.

 

Speaking to ‘The Guardian’ yesterday, top police officers privy to the investigations said the law enforcers have been directed to leave no stone unturned, meaning all those who took part in the containers saga and other malpractices should expect police detectives knocking at their doors anytime.

 

“It’s a continuous exercise,” said the Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIGP) Abdulrahmani Kaniki,”pointed out yesterday.

 

In the same vein,  the Ilala Regional Police Commander (RPC), Lucas Mkondya said yesterday  that the matter was very sensitive and law enforcers were working hard to gather sufficient information in the ongoing investigations. 

 

He added that suspects will be arrested whenever evidence linking them to the missing containers or any other scandal was complete. 

 

On Friday last week, President John Pombe Magufuli suspended Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA) Commissioner General Rished Bade due to the loss of 349 containers at Dar es Salaam port.

 

Announcing the suspension, the Chief Secretary Ombeni Sefue said the President made the decision after TRA was involved in the loss of 349 containers worth 80bn/- at the port.

 

The move followed an impromptu visit on Friday  by the Prime Minister Majaliwa Kassim Majaliwa.

 

Other suspended officials include Director of Customs and Excise Duty Tiagi Masamaki and an Assistant Manager at Customs Service Centre Habib Mponezya.

The PM also ordered immediate audit of their properties to assess if they matched their income accrued during the period they have been in service. Others who were suspended are Head of the ICT Unit Haruni Mpande; Hamisi Ali Omari, whose department was not mentioned, and Inland Container Depots in Charge Eliachi Mrema. 

 

On Saturday, the government sent three more TRA officials packing in connection with the displacing of the 349 containers at the Dar es Salaam port.

 

The three officers are Anangisye Mtafya, Nsajigwa Mwandengele and Robert Nyoni.

 

Earlier directives had it that the three officials were to be transferred to upcountry stations for duty. The decision was reached on Saturday, to ease up scheduled investigations.

 

Investigations on the suspended officials started on Friday where all concerned are supposed to be outside thecivil service to remove any possible obstacles to the investigations.

 

The premier further directed the acting TRA Commissioner General, Dr  Philip Mpango to implement the directive by officially notifying those officials of the new measures.

 

On the fateful Friday while responding to some questions posed by the prime minister, Bade confirmed the loss of the containers, normally done when containers are being transferred from the port to Inland Containers Depots (ICDs), particularly the one located at Ubungo. 

 

He however acknowledged that they conducted an inspection in one of the ICDs and established that 54 containers had disappeared. 

 

“After further inspection we discovered that the number of missing containers was actually 327. We are still working on the issue in collaboration with the country’s anti-corruption body (PCCB). The ICD owner (name withheld) has been ordered to pay a fine amounting to Sh.12.6 billion and had already paid  2.4 billion/-,” he explained. 

 

When asked by the Prime Minister if he had the list of the names of the staff implicated in the scam, Bade agreed to have it, although not there.  

Then the Prime Minister showed him the list of 349 containers with all associated information including the number of vehicles used to transport the containers from the port to ICDs. Upon seeing the list, Bade confirmed the list was indeed correct.  

 

“If we continue operating this way we shall never make any progress, unless some people are relieved of their duties,” he said, going straight to mentioning the names of staff who were to be immediately suspended. 

 

Four of the suspended staff have already been interrogated by the police, including Tiagi Masamaki. The whereabouts of one official on the Prime Minister’s list was yet to be known.

SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN