Members of parliament in court over graft scandal

By Karama Kenyunko

  The three senior MPs - all members of a key parliamentary oversight committee - are alleged to have conspired in a grand political kickback scheme seeking to extort a 30 million/- bribe. If convicted, they could face up to five years in prison

(from left to right) Alphaxard Kangi Lugola, Suleiman Ahmed Saddiq, and Victor Kilasile Mwambalaswa await their courtroom arraignment yesterday

 

Three prominent members of parliament yesterday appeared before a Dar es Salaam court charged with soliciting bribes from a local government official as allegations of dirty practices continued to threaten to erode the credibility of the country’s top legislative body.

 

Ruling CCM party MPs Victor Mwambalaswa, Kangi Lugola and Suleiman Saddiq - all members of the parliamentary local authorities accounts committee (LAAC) - are alleged to have conspired in a political kickback scheme that sought to extort a 30 million/- bribe from the Gairo district council's executive director, Mbwana Soud Magotta.

 

If convicted of the crime, the lawmakers could each face a fine of at least 500,000/- or up to five years in prison, or both.

 

The LAAC is supposed to provide parliamentary oversight to all local government authorities in the country, including Gairo district council in Dodoma region.

Prosecutors told the Kisutu resident magistrate's court that on March 15 at the Golden Tulip Hotel in Dar es Salaam’s Masaki suburb, the three MPs allegedly tried to pocket the bribe at night in exchange for their cooperation to ensure that the Gairo district council's financial report got a clean certificate.

 

"The accused persons committed the offence between 8pm and 10pm at the hotel," the lead prosecutor, Magela Ndimbo from the Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau (PCCB), stated in court.

 

It was alleged that the bribe was to help convince the MPs to lobby fellow members of the LAAC to approve the district council's financial accounts for fiscal year 2015/16.

 

The legislators were charged under section 15 (1) (2) of the Prevention and Combating of Corruption Act number 11 of 2007 for engaging themselves in a corrupt transaction.

 

According to this law: "A person who is convicted of an offence under this section, shall be liable to a fine of not less than five hundred thousand shillings but not more than one million shillings or to imprisonment for a term of not less than three years but not more than five years or to both."

 

All the accused persons - Mwambalaswa (63), Lugola (54), and Saddiq (53) - pleaded not guilty to the charges and were released on bail. The case comes up for another mention on April 14. 

 

The new National Assembly formed after last October’s general elections has been rocked by what looks like a massive corruption scandal in the making, following well-publicised reports that bribes have been changing hands among some parliamentary committee members to turn a blind eye on financial discrepancies in the reports submitted by parastatals, district and municipal councils.

 

The entire parliamentary standing committee on social services resigned mid-March to pave the way for an investigation into allegations published in a local tabloid that committee members were offered “a bag of cash” by the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF), ostensibly as a bribe.

 

Parliament Speaker Job Ndugai reshuffled several Bunge committees on the heels of the spreading graft allegations, claiming the move was normal procedure aimed at improving efficiency.

 

In the reshuffle, Lugola - one of the accused MPs who appeared in court yesterday - was removed as vice-chairman of the LAAC.

 

The latest move to open court proceedings against the MPs barely two weeks since they were allegedly caught in the act demonstrates a bold new approach on the part of the PCCB in fighting high-level graft.

 

New PCCB boss Valentino Mlowola, a former police intelligence chief, told The Guardian in a recent interview that the anti-graft watchdog had been invigorated by President John Magufuli's own demonstrated commitment to the cause.

 

Following is a brief profile of the three prominent lawmakers who appeared in court yesterday to face serious bribery charges:

 

VICTOR MWAMBALASWA

The Lupa legislator, who has an MBA from Rushmore Business School, previously served as chairman of the parliamentary energy and minerals committee.

He has been a member of parliament for the past decade, previously employed by the Tanzania Cigarette Company (TCC) in various positions before joining politics in 2005.

 

Mwambalaswa worked as the TCC director of supplies between 1988 and 1995, before becoming the company's director of projects (1996-2005).

He served as the vice-chairman of the parliamentary finance and economic affairs committee between 2006 and 2010, before chairing the energy and minerals committee (2012-2014).

 

KANGI LUGOLA

The Mwibara MP is an outspoken legislator who served as a policeman and prosecutor before joining politics.

 

Lugola holds an economics degree from the University of Dar es Salaam, and was head of security at the Arusha-based East African Community (EAC) between 2002 and 2010 when he became a legislator.

 

He served as head of security with the Tanzania Airports Authority (TAA) in 2001-2002.

 

His rise through the ranks of the Tanzania Police Force started in 1993 when he was employed as a police inspector and later a public prosecutor, a post he held until 1998.

 

He was promoted to head of police station Grade A and served in that position between 1999 and 2000, before retiring from the police force and joining TAA.

Lugola previously served as a member of the parliamentary LAAC (committee) between 2013 and 2015. Previously, he was a member of the parliamentary public organizations accounts committee (POAC).

 

SULEIMAN AHMED SADDIQ

Businessman Saddiq, who has secondary school education, has been member of parliament for Mvomero constituency in Morogoro region since 2005.

 

He has also held various positions in the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) party, including member of the National Executive Council (NEC) and member of the national implementation committee of CCM youth wing (UVCCM).

 

Saddiq has served in a number of key Bunge committees in the past, including the energy and minerals committee and the finance and economic affairs committee.