PRESIDENT John Magufuli yesterday ordered an immediate removal of civilians from the police force, directing the Home Affairs Ministry to investigate and prosecute suspects alleged to have swindled billions for the officers’ uniforms.
Dr Magufuli demanded from Inspector
General of Police (IGP) Ernest Mangu a list of all civilian employees in
the force, promising to transfer them to his office, Public Service and
Good Governance, for reassignment. President Magufuli’s directive
exclusively targeted the police force although civilians work with the
Tanzania People’s Defence Force (TPDF) and Tanzania Prisons Services
(TPS).
He decried the disappearance of between
20 and 60bn/- that was meant to purchase uniforms for the law enforcers
but none of the item had been delivered.
The Head of State issued the
instructions in Dar es Salaam at a State House event where 58 police
officers made the integrity pledge for public leaders. The commissioned
officers were recently promoted to Senior Assistant Commissioner of
Police (SACP) and Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP).
“There are some dishonest civilian
workers in the police force who tarnish your image...I think it is high
time all these civilians are transferred. “I am not sure how many
civilians you have in the force but I believe there are enough police
officers with the required professions to perform the duties done by
those civilians,” Dr Magufuli stated.
He referred to the recently suspended
Chief Accountant of the Police Force, Mr Frank Msaki, who has been
alleged to have swindled over 300m/- that was paid as ration allowance
to ghost police officers. “I have been told that the accountant was a
civilian but he was very powerful in the police circles.
I wonder why you (the police) failed to
arrest him and yet he was working amongst you. Why is it possible to
arrest other people and fail to take actions against an official working
with you,” wondered the President.
He added; “I understand the police force
has qualified accountants, engineers and administrators who can be
assigned to work in areas where civilians are now serving.” In regard to
the billions of money deceived in the purchase of police uniforms, Dr
Magufuli said it was high time investigations were conducted and
perpetrators brought to book. “There are information going around that
some suppliers were paid billions of money within one week towards the
end of last year to supply the uniforms but nothing has been delivered
so far. There are varying reports on the amount involved...some say it’s
20bn/- while others say it’s between 40bn/- and 60bn/-,” he observed.
Dr Magufuli said it is off-putting to
learn that billions were paid for the sham tender and yet the police
force has failed to pay just 2bn/- to clear its 77 vehicles stranded at
the Dar es Salaam port. In another development, Dr Magufuli pledged
increased salaries for members of the armed forces following the move by
the government to abolish tax exemptions on duty free shops starting
this financial year.
“There were some people who were abusing
the exemptions... we have decided to scrap the waiver and instead, we
will increase salaries to enable members of the armed forces to purchase
on their own choice at the market prices,” he stated.
Dr Magufuli urged the newly promoted
police officers to deal with ghost workers in their areas of work. On
Friday last week, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Home
Affairs, Judge Major General Project Rwegasira, suspended four officials
of Police Force for allegedly making fraud payments to ghost workers.
The suspended officials include Damian
Aloys Bupamba, an Accountant Level II, Ida Dennis Moyo, an Accountant
Level I and Assistant Auditor of Police Force, Milambo Mwita Milambo.
The PS said the two accountants (Bupamba and Moyo) were suspended for
involvement in fraud ration allowance to ghost workers in between
2013/2014 to 2015/16 financial years.
No comments :
Post a Comment