THE outcome of the trial of former Director General with Tanzania Ports Authority (TPA), Ephraim Mgawe and his Deputy, Hamadi Koshuma, who are facing abuse of positions charges over 1tr/-construction deal, will be known on January 6, next year.
Principal Resident Magistrate Cyprian
Mkeha, who is hearing the case at the Kisutu Resident Magistrate’s Court
in Dar es Salaam, was yesterday scheduled to deliver the court’s
judgment, but pushed forward the session to early next year because it
was not yet ready.
The parties, prosecution and defence,
were told that the trial magistrate had not completed preparing the
judgment in question as he was attending other judicial matters,
including handling cases in a special session.
Charges against the ex- TPA officials
relate to expansion of the Dar es Salaam Port, in particular
construction of Berths Number 13 and 14 under a contract involving a
Chinese firm, China Communications Construction Company Limited (CCCCL),
which cost about 523 million US dollars.
The prosecution is alleging that Mgawe
together with his assistant director (Hamadi Koshuma) signed a
commercial contract between the TPA and the CCCCL for construction of
berths number 13 and 14 at the Dar es Salaam Port without invitation of
tenders.
Such an act, the prosecution further
claims, was in violation of the provisions of Section 31 of the Public
Procurement Act, No. 21 of 2004 and was intended to obtain an undue
advantage for the Chinese construction company.
It was alleged that the two former
bosses of TPA committed the offence on December 5, 2011 at the Tanzania
Ports Authority, within the City. While hearing the prosecution’s case,
Senior State Attorney Pius Hila, called five witnesses in attempt to
prove the charges against the accused persons.
On April 22, this year, the court found
the accused persons with a case to answer, after the prosecution managed
to establish a prima facie case requiring them to make their defence in
respect of the charges.
In one of his defence testimonies, Mgawe
had told the court that the contract he had signed had nothing to do
with procurement matters, thus, he never violated any Procurement Act,
as alleged by the prosecution.
Led by his advocate Frank Mwalongo, the
former TPA boss narrated that the Procurement Act governs procurement of
goods and services and not commercial contracts as what they had signed
with the Chinese company.
Asked as to why they had signed the
contract with the China Communications Construction Company Limited,
Mgawe told the court that it was the same company which had done the
feasibility study for the expansion works and that it was the
requirement of the bank that had agreed to finance the project.
He explained further that the contract
they had signed had nothing to do with the construction works, because
at the time there was no money and, therefore, it could not be possible
for them to have such contract in place.
Mgawe further told the court that the
contract for the extension works of the port ended at the stage of
feasibility study alone and no loan was obtained from China Exim Bank
thereafter, as earlier promised for the purposes intended.
“Therefore, I have not breached the
Procurement Act. I signed the commercial contract as per requirements of
getting the loan and also to enable the government to get such funds,”
the ex-TPA chief said.
Cross-examined by advocate for Koshuma,
the former Authority’s boss informed the court that his assistant had
signed the contract in question as a witness and that no any loss was
occasioned at the TPA for them to sign the contract.
He concluded that the process relating
to the signing of the contract had involved several officials from the
then Ministry of Transport, but none of them were brought before the
court for arraignment.
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