Dodoma: Two containers that were separately seized in Vietnam and Philippines in 2009 with elephant tusks belonged to a Congolese businessman, checks by The Citizen have established.Though information doing the rounds links a company owned by the Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) secretary general, Mr Abdulrahman Kinana, with the two containers, documents outlining the investigations on the saga reveal that it was the Congolese businessman who collaborated with a local counterpart to export the cargo.
Documents seen by this paper show that the ivory was stuffed and packed in Dar es Salaam by a company named Teams Freight Tanzania Limited, located at plot number 1 along Bandari Road before it was transported to the Dar es Salaam Port for export. Mr Kinana himself told this paper yesterday that his company, Sharaf Shipping Agent (T) Ltd, had nothing to do with clearing the cargo.
"But people have been dragging my name into this saga because of political reasons… I know that Rev Peter Msigwa knows all the facts about the containers but has decided, alongside his party, to attack me personally as a way of weakening me since I was appointed CCM secretary general. The issue here is my position in the party and what I intend to do...that is what is threatening them (Chadema)," said Mr Kinana during an exclusive interview in his office.
The Citizen decided to contact Mr Kinana after seeing the documents which show that a number of institutions, including Interpol, were involved in two separate investigations which led to the prosecution of seven people.
However, the seven counts against the same number of people were dismissed by the Kisutu Resident Magistrate's Court after the state failed to gather enough evidence to convict the suspects. Those who were charged include Team Freight (T) Ltd director Eladius Tesha Colonerio, the company's import and export manager, Mr Gabriel Chambo Balula, and Shabaan Yassin Yabula, the managing director of Kigoma M. N. Enterprises (T) Ltd, which acted as the agent of another company from which the cargo originated.
Others are the Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA) official at Dar es Salaam Port Erick Lelo Morand, Issa Ahmed Lueno, Norbert Kiwale and Abubakari Omari Hassan. Reacting yesterday, Mr Kinana said he was sorry that his company, Sharaf Shipping Agent (T) Ltd, has been linked with the saga while as a shipping agent the company was not bound to know the contents of the containers.