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- Aug 2, 2010
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| Saturday, 29 September 2012 09:02 |
By Mkinga Mkinga, The Citizen Reporter Dar es Salaam. The frmer minister for Natural Resources and Tourism , Mr Ezekiel Maige, was on Thursday night questioned by anti-corruption officials over allegations of abuse of office and embezzlement. A top official at the Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau (PCCB) told The Citizen on Saturday that Mr Maige was grilled for three hours at PCCB headquarters over corruption during his tenure at the helm of the natural resources docket between December 2010 and May this year. The interrogation was done in the presence of the former ministers attorney, according to our PCCB source. Yesterday, however, Mr Maige who is the MP for Msalala (CCM), flipped out when this reporter contacted him for comment. I havent been questioned by anybody he said curtly and subsequently refused to answer any additional inquires. The PCCB investigation is trying to establish whether the value of the assets the former minister disclosed before the Public Ethics Commission tallies with what the corruption watchdog believes he owns, according to our source. Its true that we questioned him in the presence of a man he introduced to us as his lawyer, said our deep throat, adding Now we have to expand the investigation and talk to other people to verify what he told us. PCCB director general Dr Edward Hoseah neither denied nor confirmed these reports when The Citizen on Saturday asked him for comment. I cannot say anything at this moment because that would amount to disclosing details of an investigation, which is barred by Section 37 of the 2007 PCCB Act, said the anti-corruption boss. The PCCB chief would also not confirm whether they are actually investigating Mr Maige, saying that such information would damage the former ministers reputation and would actually interfere with the probe, if there was one. A well-placed source within the anti-corruption agency told this paper yesterday that officials are mapping out a strategy to widen the inquiry to cover whoever is directly or indirectly linked to issues at the centre of the probe. They will be paying particular attention to allegations of impropriety in the allocation of hunting blocks during Mr Maiges stint at the ministry of Natural Resources. The Msalala MP has been on the spot since April this year after it emerged that he had bought a mansion in the posh Mbezi Beach suburb for a staggering $410,000 (around Sh656million). In an exclusive interview with The Citizen the former minister had said that he bought the house in a clean deal, strongly denying allegations that he got it through duplicity. He said he had declared his wealth with the Secretariat for Leadership of the Public Ethics Commission, and he showed our reporter copies of his declaration forms. Still, our PCCB sources said their probe will zero in on this multi-million shilling property deal and that officials will go back all the way to the origins of Mr Maiges money. The house in question is already up for sale, according to recent media reports. Mr Maige was one of the six ministers fired by President Jakaya Kikwete in May this year in a Cabinet shakeout prompted by calls that public officials facing allegations of graft should go. The saga began in April this year when the parliamentary committee for Lands, Natural Resources and the Environment revealed alleged impropriety in the issuing of hunting licences and the allocation of hunting blocks. Consequently, parliament asked the executive to discipline the then minister for Natural Resources for subverting procedures and for managerial incompetence. The report has since been criticized for factual inaccuracies. Committee chair Mr James Lembeli, who is the CCM legislators for Kahama would later admit that his committees briefing to Parliament was actually flawed and that some of the firms that it singled out as recipients of illicit blocks were actually not allocated any hunting land. |
