Govt: Richmond scam files far from closed

[BAK]

Govt: Richmond scam files far from closed

By Edwin Agola

20th February 2010

All those implicated will be taken to court, says minister

Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation minister Bernard Membe

The government yesterday assured Tanzanians and the outside world that legal action would be taken against all those implicated in the multi-million-shilling Richmond emergency power generation contract scandal.

Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation minister Bernard Membe gave the assurance at a meeting in Dar es Salaam with heads of diplomatic missions and international organisations accredited to Tanzania.

He said the recent declaration by the National Assembly that the long drawn-out debate on the saga was closed did not mean that even the government would take no further action on the matter.
He added that the House reached the decision to give itself time to dwell on other pressing issues while allowing the government to deal with the other resolutions (by the House) which are at varying stages of implementation.

According to the minister, debate on the Richmond scandal debate had caused huge and sharp rifts within the ruling CCM "which generated vibrations across the country".
The resignations of former prime minister Edward Lowassa and two cabinet ministers were clear testimony that there was good governance and accountability in Tanzania, he noted.

"The government will implement the remaining resolutions passed by the House at its February 2007 meeting following the report from the select committee led by Kyela legislator Harrison Mwakyembe," said Membe.

He hailed MPs for having concluded a debate that had dragged on for three years and said the government would surely take legal action against all those implicated in the saga.

But skeptics quickly dismissed the minister's remarks as mere political propaganda that was coming too late, with Tanzania Media Women Association (Tamwa) executive director Ananilea Nkya saying all those behind the scam must be "named and exposed" and the government must say when the legal action it is talking about would be taken.

She said good governance demanded immediate action on all those implicated in serious crime like grand corruption, adding that the National Assembly did not do Tanzanians justice in closing debate on the Richmond scam.

"What issues does the House plan to pursue that are more pressing than the embezzlement of the nation's resources as is the case of Richmond?" queried fiery Nkya.
She said the issue was not the period that the debate had taken but the culture of accountability.

"We are creating a culture in which leaders don't take responsibility for whatever wrongs they commit, and this is the culture of most parliaments with the vast majority of members coming from one party," she noted.

She elaborated: "About 80 per cent of members of the current parliament come from the ruling party and even tomorrow, assuming it is a different party that wins, the trend will be the same. This is a disaster in the making."

The just-concluded 18th meeting of the National Assembly sitting in Dodoma last week "officially closed" debate on the Richmond saga, saying the aim was to let President Jakaya Kikwete decide the fate of the nine highly placed public officials linked to the scam.

William Shellukindo, chairman of the House Standing Committee for Energy and Minerals, told MPs that his committee could not seek any further explanation from the government over the implementation of resolution No.9 after the Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau had launched investigations against some MPs.

The decision to end the debate did not go down well with most members of the public, raising heated debate on its implications.
Some of the people interviewed have said resolutions like the one calling for disciplinary measures against the nine officials as too lenient for comfort.

The select committee report was tabled in the House for the first time on February 17, 2007 by Dr Mwakyembe, but the same House had now decided to let bygones be bygones.

Prime Minister Mizengo Pinda told the House that the government had learnt a special lesson from the Richmond scam, stressing that decency was an important element in public service.

Amid deafening applause from MPs, he said corrupt elements and embezzlers of public resources don't qualify to serve the public "no matter how enterprising or diligent they might be".




SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN

 

[Tumain]

This is a language to donors, there is different language to wananchi!

 

[Steve Dii]

Imekosekana chorus tu ya huu wimbo, sijui hii ndiyo chorus yenyewe ya pambio...!! Miaka miwili baadae, bado wanaketi beneti na mijizi ya Richmond Bungeni, kama si umarhuni huu ni kitu gani??

 

[BAK]

Imekosekana chorus tu ya huu wimbo. Miaka miwili baadae, bado wanaketi beneti na mijizi ya Richmond Bungeni, kama si umarhuni huu ni kitu gani??

Usanii wa hali ya juu tu unaendelezwa katika hali ya kutisha, huku nchi ikizidi kudidimia.

 

[Josh Michael]

Ni maneno tu hakuna kitu hapa na pia kama wao CCM wamefunga mjadala unategemea nini sasa hivi maana kuna kila sababu ya kufanya taifa hili liwe hivi ni shida tu

 

[BAK]

Ni maneno tu hakuna kitu hapa na pia kama wao CCM wamefunga mjadala unategemea nini sasa hivi maana kuna kila sababu ya kufanya taifa hili liwe hivi ni shida tu

Si umeliona Bunge letu linalomaliza awamu yake!? Lilianza kwa kuunda kamati ya Mwakyembe kufuatilia kashfa ya Richmond na ilitumia mamilioni ya shilingi lakini hadi hii leo mapendekezo ya kamati hiyo hayajafanyiwa Kazi. Ikaundwa kamati ya madini na moja ya kazi zakr ilikuwa ni kufuatilia mikataba hewa ya uchimbaji wa madini mabyo haina maslahi na nchi pamoja na Kiwira. Hadi hii leo mapendekezo ya kamati hoyo hayajafanyiwa kazi na "wachukuaji" bado wanachukua 97% na kutuachia sisi kichwa cha mwendawazimu 3% tu. Ikaja kashfa ya vitambulisho vya Taifa iliyomuhusu Masha, Sitta akafunika kombe ili mwanaharamu apite, TICTS bunge likapendekeza mkataba na kampuni hiyo ufutwe lakini mapendekezo hayo yakawekwa pembeni.

Kilimo kwanza kimekwama hakiendi kokote maana wale mapapa na mafisadi akina Manji na Jeetu bado wanagombana ni nani anayestahili kupata mkataba wa kuleta matrekta toka India, Serikali kwa kuwa inawaogopa mapapa hawa wa ufisadi haiwezi kufanya lolote dhidi yao bali kusikitika tu kwamba mradi huo umekwama kutokana na ugomvi huo wa mafisadi hawa.

Kwa hiyo utaona ni usanii tu toka 2005 hadi 2010 ndani ya Bunge na Serikali na hakuna chochote kinachofanyika katika kuleta maendeleo ya nchi.

 

[Mpaka Kieleweke]

Membe anapingana na maamuzi ya Bunge au anataka kutuaminisha kitu gani hapa?

Huu wimbo utafungwa na waliouanzisha , na Sitta anapaswa kuijua kuwa sio Bunge walioanzisha wimbo huu , hivyo wao kuudandia katikati wasifikiri kuwa wanaweza kuuzima , huu ni wimbo wa wananchi na utamalizwa na wananchi wenyewe.

 

[Selous]

Membe anapingana na maamuzi ya Bunge au anataka kutuaminisha kitu gani hapa?

Huu wimbo utafungwa na waliouanzisha , na Sitta anapaswa kuijua kuwa sio Bunge walioanzisha wimbo huu , hivyo wao kuudandia katikati wasifikiri kuwa wanaweza kuuzima , huu ni wimbo wa wananchi na utamalizwa na wananchi wenyewe.

How? kwa maneno?

 

[Ngisibara]

How? kwa maneno?

Very simple! though may take time,