Summary
· As the overseer the IGP was responsible with making sure that the established procedures in the fund are followed to the letter
Dar es Salaam. Former Inspector General of Police Simon Sirro, was
the overseer of the Police Force bereavement fund for five years between 2017
and July 2022 when he was appointed High Commissioner to Zimbabwe, the CAG’s
report has revealed.
It was during this period that the
massive loot of the Sh4.8 billion took place with the report further stating
that the fund never held any meetings for five years consecutively
As the overseer the IGP Sirro was
responsible with making sure that the established procedures in the fund are
followed to the letter.
The CAG's special audit report,
presented in parliament last Wednesday, says that they found that the Tanzania
Police Force was receiving deductions from the salaries of police officers and
non-policemen (civilians) to contribute to the fund.
The funds were deposited in one of
the commercial bank accounts and were managed by the headquarters of the
Tanzania Police Force.
The CAG noted that the Police Force
transferred the money to 62 different bank accounts set aside for paying the
bereaved and denying them and they were in all police commands in Tanzania
Mainland and Zanzibar.
According to the CAG, the Police
Force prepared specific guidelines for managing the use of funds, it was
therefore necessary to establish a secretariat and the selection of bank
signatories.
While the IGP was responsible for
ensuring that the set guidelines were followed and observed, the fund manager
was responsible for organizing the secretariat meetings, while the chairman was
given the responsibility of convening the annual general meetings of the
members.
However, after investigation, it was
found that the fund did not have a secretariat, therefore failing to hold
secretariat meetings between 2018 and 2022 and did not instruct the chairman of
the fund to organize annual general meetings.
"Management and control of the
use of the funds was lacking because there was no secretariat, so the
secretariat meetings and annual general meetings of the members could not be
held," says CAG.
CAG says, the Inspector General of
Police (IGP), as the overseer of the fund, did not instruct the chairman of the
fund to organize the annual general meetings.
Ambassador Sirro was not available
for comment despite several efforts to reach him by both WhatsApp messages and
calls.
On March 29, President Samia Suluhu
Hassan while receiving the report at the State House in Dar es Salaam, among
other things she ordered all the involved should be brought to book.
On March 31, the Director of
Criminal Investigation (DCI), Ramadhan Kingai said that the measures have
already started to be taken and cases have already been opened in court to hold
accountable all the officers involved in the scandal.
"Therefore, we started taking
action before the CAG report was made public because it is a crime like any
other crime and they have been dealt with like other criminals," he said.
The money trail
As for Mainland Tanzania, until June
2018, the bank account for the bereavement fund which was managed by the Police
Headquarters in a commercial bank, had a balance of Sh2.98 billion.
Between July 2018 and November 2021,
the fund collected Sh19.27 billion making the total funds of the fund to be
Sh22.25 billion which were withdrawn from the fund account and transferred to
62 bank accounts.
Investigations found that there were
several instances of misuse and embezzlement of funds amounting to Sh2.44
billion.
In one of the incidents four
signatories, including three who are on the run to avoid being held accountable
for their actions, and one retired, released Sh754.65 million without any information
on the beneficiaries.
The manager on the other hand
transferred Sh 5 million to a personal account on grounds that he was one of
the beneficiaries, he too is among those on the run.
The manager also at different times
ordered the transfer of funds amounting to Sh23.5 million in Morogoro into a
relative’s account without any supporting details.
After further investigation, it was
found that at the Kinondoni regional office, six police officers received a
payment of Sh28.20 million under the pretense that it was a loan they lent to
the fund yet there was no evidence.
The investigation carried out,
established that the bereavement Fund of Mainland Tanzania was mismanaged by
the fund manager, chairman and overseer, who failed to maintain discipline and
control of its proper use.
"This poor management caused
the embezzlement of Sh2.44 billion from the fund. I recommend that disciplinary
and legal measures be taken against all the people involved in the
embezzlement, including those who have escaped," says CAG Kichere.
On the other hand as a result of the
poor management, some Sh2.40 billion was lost caused by the collusion between
the Zanzibar Police Force and the Tanzania Police Force Headquarters.
However as the CAG analyzed the
weakness of the operation of the fund that caused the embezzlement, information
says procedurally, the guardian of the fund was the Commissioner for
Administration and Human Resources, Commissioner of Police (CP), Benedict
Wakulyamba and the guardians in the regions are staff officers.
The spokesman of the Police Force,
David Misime, said: "It is true that there was a theft of Sh4.8 billion in
the fund, which is money contributed by officers to help each other during a
disaster. The fund is the officers’ money and is different from the legal
procedures that are followed when an officer or an able-spouse dies."
He said the theft was discovered in
2021 and 12 officers were arrested and brought to court and their cases are at
various stages while explaining that four escaped including one police
inspector (inspector) who is said to have fled to South Africa.
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