Ex-BoT Boss Balali Has 'Already Left' the U.S. As Govt Stays Silent
The East African (Nairobi)
OPINION
28 January 2008
Posted to the web 28 January 2008
By Wilfred Edwin
Nairobi
Questions are now being asked over whether the government is genuinely committed to hunt down former Bank of Tanzania governor Dr Daudi Balali and his accomplices in order to bring them to justice.
This follows weeks of speculation over Dr Balali's whereabouts in the US and the events that transpired after the President Jakaya Kikwete fired him two weeks ago for mismanagement of $131 million in the External Payment Arrears Account.
Commentators are questioning the government's silence on the whereabouts of the former BoT governor as the US last week moved to revoke the special visa it had issued him by virtue of his position as a senior government official.
For more than four months now, Dr Balali has reportedly been admitted at hospital somewhere in the US.
Efforts to clarify his residency status in the US proved futile as the Tanzanian authorities declined to comment. The US embassy in Dar es Salaam, however, said since his sacking, Dr Balali was no longer eligible for the special visa.
It is still unclear whether he will be deported to Tanzania after the revocation of the visa.
Dr Willibrod Slaa, a Karatu Member of Parliament who is credited with having brought to light the BoT saga, told The EastAfrican last week that his investigations had revealed that Dr Balali flew to Malta on January 9, this year.
The government knows this but will not admit it. We need to know what is being done to bring him to justice," he said.
Police officials in Dar es Salaam said the BoT issue is being investigated, and that divulging information would prejudice investigations.
It is, however, understood that President Kikwete has ordered all institutions involved in the investigation to ensure that funds taken from the EPA account are returned.
This will entail the seizure of assets and a freezing of bank accounts of all companies involved in the scandal, said to be one of the biggest in recent years.
Reports said last week that a local bank was ordered by the investigation team to freeze more than 60 accounts belonging to several companies listed in a report compiled by international auditors Ernst & Young.
Robert Manumba, the Director of Criminal Investigations, declined to confirm to The EastAfrican last week whether the investigating team had ordered a freeze on the bank accounts of the companies.
The DCI referred all questions to the investigations committee chairman, Attorney General Johnson Mwanyika, who could not be located for progress updates.
Meanwhile, new claims have surfaced that the embezzled funds could be in excess of the $131 million earlier indicated by the international auditors.
Hamad Rashid Mohamed, leader of the opposition in parliament, said last week that the misuse of funds at BoT stands at over $1 billion, contrary to the amount revealed by the government.
Although I commend President Kikwete for the measures he has taken after the exposure of the scandal, I urge the government to investigate the BoT further," he said. But Minister for Finance Zakia Meghji denied allegations that the funds were in excess of $131 million.
"The auditing clearly indicated that it was only the external payment arrears account that had been mismanaged," she said.
Her statement is disingenuous given the fact she admitted to having being duped by the former governor into signing documents which purported to show that the money in question was for government use while it was to paid to Kagoda Agriculture Company.
The account, whose operations have now been suspended till a proper mechanism is put in place, was established in the 1970s as a window for importers to utilise foreign currency under a special arrangement with BoT.
However, the minister said the suspension of the account would not affect the overall operations of the bank.