State House WEF Entertainment Gala cost Tsh 400mln

tartoo

Senior Member
Jul 2, 2010
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As the debate continues on what were the actual economic benefits of Tanzania's hosting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) early this year, it is now emerging that the State House spent a cool Tsh 367 mln (approximately USD 250,000) on a lavish evening entertainment gala for the conference delegates.

Although there is no official confirmation of corruption in this event, it is the nature of how the budget and contract for this event was prepared that has raised concerns that corrupt practices may have been involved and government could have lost millions in shillings due to over inflated charges for the services provided on this occasion.

A copy of the agreement signed between the President's Office-State House and a private company trading as Roundtrip Event & Production Tanzania (Division of Scanad Tanzania Limited) reads like a riddle with a long list of items whose detailed prices were not given apart from lump sum figures given as total at the end of the column without giving details how these figures were arrived at.

The agreement was signed on 31st March 2010 by the Permanent Secretary- State House witnessed by an official called Mussa M, Makuya while Mr Prashant Powar signed on behalf of Round Trip Event & Production witnessed another official from the company.



According to the agreement, item no 1: Invitations cost the government Tsh 8,250,000 while Décor & Venue cost the government Tsh 85,800,000. Another Item-Sound Systems cost Tsh 19,800,000 another Tsh 39,600,000 was spent on special lights alone. Tsh 13,200,000 was spent on special video system (hire) while Tsh6, 600,000 was spent on special graphics and a cool Tsh13, 200,000 was spent on Entertainment-Off stage. Entertainment on stage cost Tsh 15,180,000 while Tsh3, 300,000 was spent on communication.

A power generator for hire cost Tsh 19,800,000 ( even though the Conference venue Mlimani City had assured power supply with a stand by Generator) while Tsh 26,400,000 was spent on show management/staff costs. The state house was charged Tsh 33,000,000 as Event/project Management fees while Tsh27, 060,000 was spent on additional elements.

A close look at the items listed in each column also raises concerns as some items clearly appear to have been unnecessary for the event of this kind. For example, under some columns items like dancing floor made of tinga tinga, live gallery show cases, communication plans appear to have been included in the budgets even when the conference venue appears to have been well paved and needing no extras make-ups for especially dancing.

More still, most of the items were indicated in brackets as (if required) and yet the agreement had been signed indicating that funds had been implicitly earmarked for these items. The question therefore was what happened, in case some of these items listed turned out not to be required?

Since this agreement became publicly available and widely circulated on the internet, the public questions the wisdom of government's expenditure priorities and cannot understand how government could have managed to pull off such a lavish dinner for conference participants at a time of the year when government was struggling to reach its local revenue collection targets to finance its budget. The end of year budget out turn indicates that government recorded a shortfall in revenue collections for its 2009/10 financial year.

In the recent past, the government, especially the state house has been under increasing criticisms for lavish spending on foreign travels and conferences whose immediate benefit to Tanzania is often not seen. The President was the first to face this criticism with members of the opposition political parties and some section of the population criticizing what they described as his over expenditure on foreign trips accompanied with large delegations.

Another criticism was raised when the government millions of shillings hosting the Sullivan Summit in 2008. The summit held in Arusha brought together over 500 people especially from North America led by former US Ambassador Andrew Young and his company associates.

The delegates pledged to engage in development projects in Tanzania, promote Tanzania's tourism and abroad and to attract foreign investors. Sitting in a star studded tented city at a state dinner held at Ngurudoto Mountain Lodge, Ambassador Young and others like Karl Masters spoke out with pride how the Sullivan Summit delegates would each work towards changing the lives of poor Tanzanians. In his own words, the delegates had travelled for many miles and were now seated at the bottom of the Rift Valley in the heart of Africa. But since then, the Country has nothing serious to show as the outcome of this summit.

On the contrary, in what appeared to be evidence of who the actual beneficiaries of the summit were and signs of infighting, one of the employee's of Ambassador Young's interests in Tanzania was sacked shortly after the summit for among other reasons lack of integrity

Apparently, the government appears to be caught up in this love for international conferencing in the anticipation that this works well in strengthening Tanzania's foreign policy interests


However, with the two conferences gone, it may be high time for government to begin evaluating the impact of hosting such high powered conferences in the Country. In most Countries, conferences are a business venture and no conference can be held if no profits will be realized for the host country.


The government needs to borrow a leaf from others. Before the conference is held, there is need for a comprehensive cost benefit analysis to be undertaken to determine whether the benefits of the conference outweigh the costs. After the conference, there is need for an audit to be conducted to establish how much money was spent and whether what was spent was commensurate with the benefits gained from the conference.

As commented by one retired Civil servant, for any meeting of this magnitude, there will be always forces waiting to prey on the cheap government money which comes with it.


The foxes are sometimes within government or sometimes outside government but working closely with government officials either as service providers or as middlemen to negotiate on behalf of government with other services providers. In the process cash exchanges hands and kickbacks flow as lucrative business deals are sealed, he said.


This was the case with the Common Wealth Heads of state and Governments Meeting (CHOGM) meeting in Kampala, Uganda a few years ago.


In an ongoing Parliamentary Inquiry, senior government officials have been implicated in the scandal which may end up tarnishing Uganda's image abroad and ruining its chances of hosting similar high powered international conferences in the future.


As it turned out, the inquiry revealed that the government lost billions of shillings in dubious business deals ranging from supplying of government vehicles at inflated prices to corruptly renting out space for small scale business exhibitors.

According to the Foreign Affairs Ministry, the WEF was a unique opportunity for Tanzania to expose its tourism potential and opportunities for investment. The country was expected to rake millions of shillings in hotel accommodations, tourism, and shopping and investment deals. However from this single agreement it appears the WEF and its delegates were instead preying on the limited resources available in a poor Country like Tanzania.


As commented by some sections of the public, looking at this figure it appears we spent all that the little resources that the delegates brought into this country in the form of hotel bookings, taxi hire, small shopping etc on this dinner. Therefore the net benefit from this conference could be equated to zero.

In his address to the nation, the President of Tanzania, Jakaya Kikwete lauded the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the People of Dar es Salaam for having been such good hosts. This message was also echoed by the Foreign Minister in his budget speech to Parliament in which he said the Conference organizers had ‘appreciated our hospitality' and acknowledged that never had they ever held such a successful conference in the history of the WEF summit.

However, if the public concerns about this agreement are to go by, may be it would be appropriate to look back in retrospect, conduct an audit on the preparations and financial dealings of WEF Summit, just to be sure no one was fleeced.

Source: Corruption Tracker
 
Kinachonitia kinyaa ni kwamba hiyo hela imepewa kampuni ya nje kwa kazi ambazo kampuni za kitanzania zinaweza, sio chuki binafsi lakini ni ajabu ya kwamba pamoja nakusikia kwamba kuna kampuni za watanzania ziko listed kwenye kusindikiza hakuna hata moja iliyopewa kazi, ndio maana wakenya wanasema acha walilie ku host hiyo mikutano bado hela yote itatoka huko na kwenda nje, stupid kabisa kabisa hakuna kitu kibaya kama uongozi wa kimaskini usiokua na dira ya kitaifa ndio kilichojaa ikulu ya JK
 
Kinachonitia kinyaa ni kwamba hiyo hela imepewa kampuni ya nje kwa kazi ambazo kampuni za kitanzania zinaweza, sio chuki binafsi lakini ni ajabu ya kwamba pamoja nakusikia kwamba kuna kampuni za watanzania ziko listed kwenye kusindikiza hakuna hata moja iliyopewa kazi, ndio maana wakenya wanasema acha walilie ku host hiyo mikutano bado hela yote itatoka huko na kwenda nje, stupid kabisa kabisa hakuna kitu kibaya kama uongozi wa kimaskini usiokua na dira ya kitaifa ndio kilichojaa ikulu ya JK

Just to make it clear to you,the company wasn't from outside.Cha kuuliza ni kama hiyo kampuni ni kweli ipo imesajiliwa kihalali na pia kwa nini kuna kamgongo ka=Kihindi ndani?Hapa kunanukia harufu ya ufisadi kusema ukweli.Natamani watu wangekuwa na uchu na nchi yao na maendeleo ya kila mtanzania.Inasikitisha kuona pia Mhe.Rais haoni kuwa nchi ni masikini,aionee huruma.Inasikitisha sana.Am not wishing nchi yetu iingie msituni lakini inaonesha kuwa tutakuja kuingia tu msituni.Watu itafikia mahali watachoshwa na upuuzi huu.
 
Hawa jamaa huwa wapo makini sana. Ukiangalia habari zao nyingi ni moto (www.corruptiontracker.or.tz).

Yafaa wenye data tuwape maana wapo makini na wanajiamini. Tuwaunge mkono.

Kazi nzuri sana hii!

Watanzania tuamke sasa

Nina wasiwasi na umakini wa hii ripoti maana hata wanavyoeleza ni kama vile hafla hii ilifanyika Mlimani City Hall wakati ukweli ilifanyika katika viwanja vya Ikulu.

omarilyas
 
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