What Mwigulu Nchemba brings to the table as finance minister

Former Home Affairs minister Mwigulu Nchemba. He was fired on Sunday. PHOTO | FILE

Summary

• Dr Nchemba held the position of deputy Finance minister at a time when the country was in troubled waters with revelations that $122 million had been illegally withdrawn from an escrow account at the Bank of Tanzania in what came to be known as the ‘Tegeta Escrow Scandal.’

By The Citizen Reporter

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President Samia Suluhu Hassan on Wednesday March 31, appointed Dr Mwigulu Nchemba the new

Finance and Planning minister to replace Dr Phillip Mpango who is now Vice President.

His first and immediate task will be to handle the 2021-2022 budget whose debate is already underway in Parliament .

Dr Nchemba, who holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Dar es Salaam, has wide experience in Tanzania’s economy after having worked as an economist at the Bank of Tanzania before joining active politics.

While in politics, he held the position of deputy minister in the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning during former President Kikwete’s administration.

Dr Nchemba held the position of deputy Finance minister at a time when the country was in troubled waters with revelations that $122 million had been illegally withdrawn from an escrow account at the Bank of Tanzania in what came to be known as the ‘Tegeta Escrow Scandal.’

 The scandal involved the withdrawal of the money from an account at the Bank of Tanzania, where it was jointly opened by Tanzania Electric Supply Company (Taneco) and Independent Power Tanzania Limited (IPTL), pending the two institution’s legal wrangles over capacity charges between the parties before domestic and international courts.

Amid discussions on the decision that the Kikwete administration was to take with regard to those that had been adversely mentioned in the Tegeta Escrow probe, Dr Nchemba is on record as having out rightly said that it was just fair to deal with anyone involved in the scandal in accordance with the law.

He is on record as having told a ruling party caucus that after an audit by the Controller and Auditor General (CAG) on what actually transpired at the Tegeta Escrow, it was only fair that the government takes over control of IPTL generators while those who played a role in the release of the funds should face the law accordingly.

 “The CAG has said that what was withdrawn was public money and it is only fair now that we nationalise the generators as we take legal action against those who took part in the theft of public money,” he was quoted as saying then.