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The Confession of Nazir Karamagi · 1st October 2007, 04:07 PM

Buzwagi saga

Minister Karamagi makes confession

By Sunday Citizen Team

Minister for Energy and Minerals Nazir Karamagi has officially admitted that he deleted from the proposed Buzwagi mining contract, a clause on the East African Customs Management just few minutes before signing the controversial contract in London in February this year.
Speaking to the Sunday Citizen earlier this week, Karamagi said he made the changes as the Clause wouldn’t be applicable, since the mining sector doesn’t fall within the East African Customs Management.

The minister said that each East African state has a special licence to choose a sector in which special incentives can be offered. For Tanzania, the mining industry falls within this special arrangement.

But hadn’t a team of experts from his own ministry included the Clause in the document?
“The Commissioner of Mining is the right person to explain this,” Karamagi responded.

The minister denied any wrongdoing in his action or the signing of the contract. However, his signing of the Buzwagi deal has caused heated debate inside and outside Parliament in recent months, with the Opposition parties and civil society calling for an independent Parliamentary commission of inquiry into the signing of the contract.

According to the Buzwagi contract, the deleted clause in Article 4.2 of the agreement obliged the investor to pay to the government taxes and other fiscal obligation under the East Africa Customs Union.

With its exclusion, the country will lose out significant revenue.

Disturbing to observers is the fact that the Buzwagi contract was signed at a time when the government was in the process of reviewing previous mining contracts in order to create what the Head of State termed a’ win- win’ situation.

However, when asked again to clarify why his experts didn’t think that the Clause was not applicable, thus including it in the contract, Karamagi was not able to provide any tangible reasons, instead he directed the Sunday Citizen to the Commissioner for Minerals again, insisting that it was the commissioner who is responsible for legal affairs.

Commissioner for Minerals Dr Peter Kafumu said the minister’s move to delete the Clause aimed at protecting Tanzania’s lucrative mining industry, which has key place in the national economy.

According to Dr Kafumu, the EA Customs Management Act allows each of the East African countries to have their own incentives in a particular sector and for Tanzania, the mining sector is the one that has been picked to enjoy the special incentives.

The Commissioner said it was true that the original contract drafted by a team of experts from the Ministry of Energy and Minerals in Dar es Salaam included the East African Customs Management Act of 2004, but insisted that the clause was not necessary.
According to Dr Kafumu the experts, who are versed with rules, added the Clause through an oversight.
Asked to explain how experts could have overlooked such a crucial clause, the commissioner insisted: “This clause was not included intentionally.”

Why then didn’t the minister inform the Parliament about his decisions to delete the clause?

Dr Kafumu said his boss was confident that no one would lay their hands on the contract, since it is a confidential document only accessible to the government and investors.
“It is illegal to posses any government document especially one bearing confidential stamp, but I am personally surprised to hear that some people have managed to access the contract!” he remarked.

Targeting whistle blowers

The commissioner said his ministry is working hard to establish the person behind the leakages of contracts at the ministry as a handful of contracts have reached the media as of recent, including the Buzwagi one.

He said his ministry is working hard to nab those behind the leakages, adding that once identified, they would not only lose their jobs, but will also face legal action.

He said other contracts that leaked to the media last year were the Richmond contract and Alex Stewart contract, which ‘caused confusion within the ministry.’

Tundu Lissu, a prominent lawyer and a critic of mining industry told the Sunday Citizen: “The government has been trying to misuse the National Security Act of 1971 to protect even things which are not top secrets.”

Lissu, who was the first person to admit he was in possession of the Buzwagi contract early this week during the talk show hosted by Jenerali Ulimwengu, clarified: “This contract can’t be a top secret document because it has nothing to do with national security or the country’s military.”

He added: “Being in possession of this document can’t be a criminal offence because it is a matter of public interest in that the general public has the right to know what its government is offering investors as stated by the Constitution of the United Republic of Tanzania.”

According to Lissu, any law that contradicts the National Constitution, which is the cornerstone of all laws in this country, is nullified.

“The government should not issue threats to whistle blowers who have enabled the nation to access the controversial contracts… they should protect whistle blowers instead of threatening to sue them were they to be identified or revealed,” Lissu said.

A high-ranking source within the State House told the Sunday Citizen this week that he was shocked to read the contents of the Buzwagi contract in the local press this week.
“These are very serious allegations. When I read the newspapers my first instinct was that what the reports were untrue, but now you are telling me that the minister has admitted to deleting the Clause!” remarked the source.

He declined to be named, citing the sensitivity of his position in the government, but he admitted that following the leakage of the Buzwagi contract, there are now several questions Karamagi has to answer regarding the credibility of the contract.

He said the message to the public now is that Parliament declined to form a probe commission as demanded by the Opposition MPs because of the abnormalities in the contract.
The source further added that all the other major mining contracts were signed before the introduction of East African Customs Union, so the Clause deleted was not applicable to them.

But he said Buzwagi should have fallen within the East African Customs Management Act because it was signed after law came into force.

Dua · #2 1st October 2007, 04:14 PM

Tutaona mengi kama huyu waziri akiendelea basi ujue JK ndiye yuko nyuma ya deal lote hili.

Rwabugiri · #3 1st October 2007, 04:44 PM

	Quote:	Dua
	Tutaona mengi kama huyu waziri akiendelea basi ujue JK ndiye yuko nyuma ya deal lote hili.

Kwa Mwendo huu hawezi muacha aendelee, na kama akikaidi amuache naamini hata mawe yataongea

What a crap!!!

Katibu Tarafa · #4 1st October 2007, 05:19 PM

hao ndio viongozi wanaoaminiwa na raisi hivyo wanauwezo wa kufanya chochote bila mwenye nyumba kujulishwa.waziri hana kosa ametenda kwa mujibu wa aliyemteua kwa anaimani naye.jk na karamagi lao moja

Kalimanzira · #5 1st October 2007, 05:55 PM

Sasa hata wale wanaojidai wakichanjwa damu zao zitakuwa za kijani sasa wanasikia yanayofanywa na wenzao! Nadhani muda wa kubadilika kiitikadi na kuangalia mstakabali wa taifa umefika sasa.

Field Marshall ES · #6 1st October 2007, 06:14 PM

Quote:

Sasa hata wale wanaojidai wakichanjwa damu zao zitakuwa za kijani sasa wanasikia yanayofanywa na wenzao! Nadhani muda wa kubadilika kiitikadi na kuangalia mstakabali wa taifa umefika sasa.

Mkuu you are very right ni mimi niliyesema kuwa ni CCM damu, na nikikatwa damu yangu ni ya njano na kijani, ila ni the wake of ishus kama hizi chini hapa, ninaelewwa kuwa sina haja ya kubadili anything, zaidi ya kuendelea kulilia mabadiliko ya kikatiba na kisiasa katika taifa langu, bila ya kumuamini anybody maana hakuna malaika kwenye viongozi wangu wa taifa kuanzia CCM mpaka upinzani, in the future kata ishu kwa manufaa ya taifa badala ya kuwatafuta watu personally, maana hawa kina Karamagi na Zitto, ndio viongozi wetu wa taifa, soma hapa chini mkuu:-

Quote:

Interested Observer

Mr. Zito, you may be very right, in any respect, here you are touching everybody, even us called conservatives "priests" and "shekhs". But your family values may erode all what you are purporting, remember that you are raising big issues but when we hear or read; you have "mzazi mwenza" then the other issue of my late little sister, maybe other stories which we do not know; we can't assimilate, you maybe talking big issues for this beloved nation!

Mwawado · #7 1st October 2007, 06:44 PM

Katika Haya yote tunayoyaona hapa Hivi kweli Waziri Karamagi kwa nini asijiuzulu?.Anataka kwenda Mahakamani kutafuta nini? Mbona ataaibika?Hana njia ya kutokea,kila kitu kimekuwa wazi!.Na hata wanaomshauri naona wameona Boss ameshindwa kazi.Nitashangaa sana kama Rais hatomuomba Funguo za Ofisi Mh.Karamagi!kuendelea kumkumbatia huyu ni kujichimbia kaburi!!

Field Marshall ES · #8 1st October 2007, 07:19 PM

Quote:

Katika Haya yote tunayoyaona hapa Hivi kweli Waziri Karamagi kwa nini asijiuzulu?.Anataka kwenda Mahakamani kutafuta nini? Mbona ataaibika?Hana njia ya kutokea,kila kitu kimekuwa wazi!.Na hata wanaomshauri naona wameona Boss ameshindwa kazi.Nitashangaa sana kama Rais hatomuomba Funguo za Ofisi Mh.Karamagi!kuendelea kumkumbatia huyu ni kujichimbia kaburi!!

Mkuu Mwawado,

Heshima yako, unajua leo nilikuwa ninaongea na kongozi mmoja wa bongo, akasema kuwa hawa jamaa wanaongoza nchi kama vile wakimaliza wao tu uongozi itakuwa ndio mwisho wa dunia, maana hawaelekei kuamini kuwa tuna watoto na vijana wa taifa la kesho,

kwa wale tuliotokea BCS, ukweli ni kwamba hatuoni cha ajabu maana tulitabiri toka kule kuwa haya yanayotufika sasa hivi yatatufika tu baada ya muda si mrefu, na here we are, yaani magazeti mpaka ya nje yalituonya wee lakini wapi,

Here wa are reaping what we sow, masikini wa-Tanzania!

Rwabugiri · #9 1st October 2007, 07:39 PM

	Quote:	Field Marshall ES
	Here wa are reaping what we saw, masikini wa-Tanzania!

Mkuu FME, samahani naona umeniacha pembeni kidogo,
Kama hutojali what did we saw???

mTz · #10 1st October 2007, 07:50 PM

Any connection with current Buzwagi saga?

JK credited for promoting investment in mining sector

MBARAKA ISLAM
Dar es Salaam

A FOUNDER member and director of the global anti-graft organization Transparency International (TI), Frank Vogl, has credited President Jakaya Kikwete with the emergence of Tanzania as a major mining country in Africa.

Vogl, who is also a member of the Transparency International board of directors, said in Washington recently that President Kikwete was one of the few leaders on the continent who have persistently fought corruption while in public office, thus attracting large-scale investment in the booming mining sector.

He was speaking to African journalists visiting the United States under the auspices of the US State Department.

Vogl said he was also impressed by Mr Kikwete’s continued efforts to travel all over the world to woo more investors.

He noted that since the president’s days as energy and minerals minister, he was instrumental in creating a conducive environment in Tanzania free from corruption and bureaucracy.

’’Dealing with Mr Kikwete was very simple�he was very helpful (on condition that) everything was done by the law,’’ said Vogl.

He added: ’’He (Kikwete) has traveled all over the world to encourage investors to go to Tanzania where everything is done by the law. He has been traveling all over the world to tell investors, come and invest in Tanzania.’’

Vogl is also linked with Tanzanian Royalty Exploration Corporation, formerly known as Tan Range Exploration Corporation, which has been exploring 141 mineral resource properties in the Lake Victoria greenstone belt and Kabanga area in Tanzania.

The company, owned by American businessman James Sinclair, has joint venture and royalty agreements with three industry partners covering a total of 34 prospecting licences in the country: Two with Barrick, 15 with Ashanti Goldfields, and 17 with Northern Mining Explorations.

Vogl said Mr Kikwete as energy and minerals minister made sure that investors did not have to pay a single cent to bribe any official in their activities in Tanzania.

’’We had a minister (Kikwete) who dedicated his time for his nation, because in Tanzania there was very big mistrust among foreign investors. We were lucky, since we had a minister over there who believed in the development of his country,’’ Vogl stated.

In the early 1990s, Vogl joined Sinclair in a mining venture in Tanzania. Sinclair was also the Chairman of Sutton Resources of Canada.

Explaining how they entered into the mining business, Vogl said one geologist who worked in Tanzania approached Sinclair and told him about the mineral wealth in Tanzania.

’’A Canadian geologist went to Sinclair, who was at that time in finance and had never engaged in mining before. That’s when Sinclair sat with George Kahama, who was in Nyerere’s cabinet,’’ sad Vogl.

He added that the Kahama family was representing Sinclair’s company in Tanzania.

Vogl said Kahama explained to them that Tanzania was blessed with natural resources but was yet poor � the main obstacle being mistrust between government and foreign investors.

He said they were lucky to find Mr Kikwete as minister for energy and minerals at that time, who gave them all the assistance they needed to invest in the country’s mining sector.

’’Mr Kikwete was the minister for energy and minerals when we came to Tanzania. He was a former military man and we found him to be a bold man,’’ he said.

He added: ’’But some (foreign) investors were arrogant. (One day) I was in his (Kikwete’s) office then one guy from South Africa, who had flown in that morning, came into the office saying ’please Mr Minister, quickly sign this contract’, and they flew back the same day. That was arrogance.’’

Source: http://thisday.co.tz/News/2814.html

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