EPA account payments to Kagoda: Revealed: Names of the BoT officials involved
-Internal purge already in progress
THISDAY REPORTER
Dar es Salaam
AT least four senior Bank of Tanzania officials are understood to have been directly involved in the processing of dubious payments amounting to over $30.8m (approx. 40bn/-) from the BoTs external payment arrears (EPA) account to Kagoda Agriculture Limited company in 2005, it has been established.
According to THISDAYs latest findings, the names of the four officials from the central banks debt management department repeatedly appear in internal memos and other confidential bank documents supporting the payments to Kagoda.
The officials from the same BoT department are Imani Mwakosya, Esther Komu, Martha Nderimo, and A.A. Chaula.
The findings also show that other senior officials from the central banks legal department were also heavily involved in the payments to Kagoda, by approving forged contracts known as deeds of assignment in favour of the payments.
Our investigations have furthermore established that a number of senior officials in both the BoT legal and debt management departments have already been removed from those posts, as part of a purge of individuals who in one way or another participated in the EPA payments.
Well-placed sources say the senior BoT officials processed the payments to Kagoda under instructions from the late, disgraced central bank governor Daudi Ballali, who is now reportedly deceased and buried in the United States.
The special audit report of the EPA account for 2005/06, conducted by the international auditing firm Ernst & Young, is understood to have recommended disciplinary action against all BoT officials who authorized dubious payments from the key account.
And the banks new board of directors, under the chairmanship of new governor Prof. Benno Ndulu, is understood to have already made headway in implementing the report recommendations.
According to informed sources, the BoT management is undertaking its own investigation to establish whether or not the concerned officials were just following orders from Ballali, or themselves also benefited from the dubious EPA payments.
A source familiar with the investigation told THISDAY: The transfer of officials from the banks legal and debt management departments is just a preliminary move, pending further disciplinary action to be taken against those found to have been involved in criminal wrongdoing with regard to the matter at hand.
Some of the leaked internal BoT memos reveal how Ballali himself personally authorized payment of over 25.7bn/- to Kagoda, as part of a pay-out exceeding 40bn/- to the mysterious company via a series of forged documents.
Latest findings by THISDAY show that the payments to Kagoda were spread across at least six bank accounts operated by the company at different CRDB Bank branches within Dar es Salaam.
It appears the bank accounts were opened on the same day, and the BoT funds immediately withdrawn after being deposited into these accounts.
The CRDB bank accounts involved (name of branch, account number, and amount of funds deposited) are as follows:
Vijana 01J1021795705 (1.26bn/-), Kijitonyama 01J1021795703 (1.056bn/-), Azikiwe 01J1021795701 (1.26bn/-), Holland House 01J1021795705 (2.32bn/-), PPF Tower 01J1021795705 (more than 702m/-), and Lumumba 01J1021795704 (1.59bn/-)
Our investigations have established that after the payments were confirmed, the monies were swiftly transferred to other bank accounts as part of an elaborate money-laundering operation under the supervision of certain prominent local business tycoons.
Although the names of two virtually unknown individuals - John Kyomuhendo and Francis William ? are listed as directors in the Kagoda Agriculture Limited official registration documents, it has come to light that they were in fact not the real owners of the company, but merely used to formalize legal requirements for registration, official correspondence with BoT, and the forged deeds of assignment.
According to our well-placed sources, immediately after the EPA money was paid into Kagodas various CRDB bank accounts, Kyomuhendo and William granted full power of attorney to a local, city-based businessman to handle all matters related to the bank accounts.
The mysterious Kagoda Agriculture Limited company was paid a total sum of $30,732,658.82 by BoT using 12 falsified deeds of assignment it had purportedly signed with foreign creditors of the government.
So far, the ongoing official government EPA investigation led by Attorney General Johnson Mwanyika has been reluctant to reveal the real identities of the beneficiaries of the huge amounts of funds paid to Kagoda.