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Ballali`s fresh medical twist
By Rodgers Luhwago
7th June 2009
By Rodgers Luhwago
7th June 2009
A row is simmering between Daudi Ballalis widow and the Bank of Tanzania (BoT), whom Mrs Ballali says should foot $37,000 (Sh49.9m) in unsettled bills for the late central bank governors medical treatment, The Guardian on Sunday has learnt.
According to sources within Ballalis family, during his treatment in the United States between October 2007 and May 2008, Ballalis total medical bill totalled around $85,000.
Although the majority of the bill - which was predominantly incurred when Ballali was admitted to a Boston hospital for an undisclosed illness - has already been paid by the familys health insurance policy, the remaining $37,000 has been outstanding for over a year now.
The $37,000 covers nursing services provided by the hospital after Ballali was discharged but still under special care at his home.
Ballali remained under home nursing care for about three months before passing away on May 16, 2008.
His wife struggled to settle the bill and finally decided to request the BoT to help foot the pending amount but surprisingly the bank has declined, said one family member who spoke to The Guardian on Sunday this week on condition of anonymity.
Ballali was entitled free medical expenses as the head of the BoT the fact that he went to the US for treatment as the BoT governor gives him the right to free medical expenses.
Ballalis widow, Anna Mganda Ballali, sent the medical invoices to BoT management in March this year, but the bank has so far declined to pay the bills.
BoT Governor Benno Ndullu told The Guardian on Sunday this week that he could not comment publicly because of the private nature of the matter.
I cant comment on this through the press because this is a personal matter. If it was something to do with policy I could say something.
This is an entirely personal matter that cannot be answered via the press. It has its internal and unique way of addressing it, he said.
He added: I am surprised to learn that the matter has been taken to the press because I think it is worth respecting the late Ballali. Remember we are talking of someones personal life. I can not comment on this issue because if I do I would be considered useless.
Ndullu said the bank has issued Mrs Ballali a written response to her request and that should suffice in closing the matter.
Confusion reigned in the country when reports surfaced last May that the former BoT boss had passed away in the US. Even his close family members kept his death secret before the government made an official announcement a week later.
Ballali was buried in Washington, D.C. on May 23, 2008, at a private funeral arrangement supervised by the De Vol Funeral Home.
Mourners from different parts of the world sent in condolence messages through a guestbook posted on the funeral homes website.
Ballali, who was fired as Tanzania's central bank governor in January 2008 amid the allegations of embezzlement from the External Payment Arrears (EPA) account, had died a week earlier, on May 16, in a Boston, Massachusetts hospital.
The former BoT supreme left Tanzania in late 2007 for medical treatment but neither official information on his ailment nor the hospital where he was being treated were released.
His departure to the US coincided with the start of a special, government-ordered BoT audit that uncovered the EPA scandal and triggered a sequence of events that culminated in his sacking by President Jakaya Kikwete.
SOURCE: GUARDIAN ON SUNDAY