Lugola intensifies clean-up

Sunday News Reporter

. . . Minister issues ten directives to bring sanity to Home Affairs

KANGI Lugola is a man on a mission. With hardly a month in the driving seat of the Ministry of Home Affairs, he is determined to leave no stone unturned in a bid to bring sanity to the vital ministry.

Having hit the ground running from day one, the on fire minister has made some bold decisions that sent shock waves into the ministry, signaling the end of business as usual era.

And, in line with his goal to transform the ministry and restore lost glory to departments, the Minister has again come out with guns blazing, issuing ten directives that among others are meant to exorcise ghosts that have been haunting his portfolio for a long time.

Notable among the directives is the resuscitation of the Lugumi saga and that of the machine for processing national identity cards whose payment has been cleared, but is yet to be brought into the country.

The Minister issued the directives in Dar es Salaam, yesterday, when briefing journalists about his tour of the national security and defence organs. On the controversial 37bn/- contract between the Tanzania Police Force and Lugumi Enterprises Limited, the Minister directed the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Simon Sirro to search for the company owner and take him to his office on July 31, this year.

Mr Lugola explained that, he came to learn that the company has not yet completed its work, thus it was important to meet with the owner to know the reasons for failing to finish its work.

He, however, noted that the door is open for the company owner to surrender himself to the Minister before the stated date.

“I am aware that Lugumi is a Tanzanian who has a family… it is important for him to voluntarily come to my office after getting this information so that we can discuss the matter,” he said.

On the national IDs processing machines, the Minister ordered National Identification Authority (NIDA) Acting Director General to submit a detailed report on the purchase of the machine for processing IDs, which is yet to be brought into the country despite all payments having been cleared.

“I want the DG to make sure that he reports to my office in Dodoma on July 25, this year, along with people who have been given the tender to buy the machine and provide explanations as to why the device is not in the country to date or else they should come with 32bn/- which they were given for purchasing it,” he insisted.

He however, directed the Prisons in the country to come up with a special plan of feeding prisoners in order to minimise government burden of feeding them.

“The President is tired of setting aside budget to feed prisoners, while the money could be channelled to other development projects … we want prisoners to be involved in production of food, to feed themselves, and even sell the surplus; this is

part of learning and we are not breaching any laws,” he insisted. In ending illegal activities going on in the country’s prisons such as use of mobile phones, he has directed the Commissioner General of Prisons to make sure that his subordinates abide by work ethics in order to end such acts.
“From today onwards, no any prisoner is allowed to enter prison cells with a mobile phone or any other thing which is prohibited and disciplinary action will be taken against heads of prisons, in case such illegal materials are found in cells.
On traffic accidents, the Minister ordered the traffic police to enforce traffic laws and regulations and conduct regular vehicle inspections in order to curb accidents.
“We have already started setting up strategies with stringent measures against those who will cause accidents and one of them is the recent decision to dissolve the National Road Safety Council and its regional and district committees and the new council will be formed before the end of this month,” he said.
Minister Lugola further, ordered the Director of Refugees Department to speed up the process of repatriating Burundi refugees because their homeland is now peaceful and safe.
He also directed all refugees who have abandoned their campsites to be arrested and returned to the camps. In addressing the problem of illegal immigrants, the Minister directed the Commissioner General of Immigration to ensure that immigration officials in regions and districts work efficiently by strengthening patrol at the country’s borders.
The Minister also warned police officers, who fabricate cases and engage in corruption, that stringent action will be taken against them. On police canine unit, he directed the IGP to make sure that he works on challenges facing the department, including keeping records of all dogs.
The Minister further, directed the Fire and Rescue officials, to make sure they timeously arrive at scenes in case of fire outbreaks instead of remaining in office for excuse of not having water tenders or fire engines.