IMMMA ilikuwa ni wakili wa kampuni mojawapo au mojawapo ya patners alikuwa na hisa kwenye Deep Green? at the time Masha alikuwa tayari keshajiunga na firm hiyo kiasi cha kuweza kuwa in the "know" of what was going on?
ThisDay
Mystery Deep Green company file goes missing:Signs of a cover-up
-Who are the real powers behind it?
THISDAY REPORTER
Dar es Salaam
INDICATIONS of a possible, extensive cover-up involving details of the mysterious Deep Green Company Limited have come to light following the discovery that the companys records file is missing from the Business Registration and Licensing Authority (BRELA) in Dar es Salaam, THISDAY can reveal today.
BRELA officials confirmed in the city last week that instead of the Deep Green Co. Ltd file, the authority is currently in possession of just a one-page document giving notice of the company�s plans for a voluntary winding-up.
It is true that there was a file on the company, under its registration number 51870. But now the file is not in the place where it is supposed to be�and it cannot be found anywhere, said one senior BRELA official in response to inquiries from THISDAY.
This latest development has served to thicken the cloud of mystery surrounding the company which is understood to have strong links with the reportedly defunct Meremeta Gold Mine Company Limited, and has already been the beneficiary of questionable payments in terms of billions of shillings from the Bank of Tanzania (BoT).
According to official records, Deep Green Co. Ltd was established and formally registered on March 18, 2005 under BRELA certificate number 51870, with the
companys listed first subscribers and shareholders identified as Protase Rwezahura Gervas Ishengoma and Stella Ndikima of IMMA House, Plot No.357 located along United Nations Road in Upanga, Dar es Salaam.
Reliable sources say the company was used as a go-between in a number of dubious multi-billion shilling transactions between the central bank, the Meremeta gold project and other related companies.
And it has been verified that by August of the same year (2005), the company had already landed a payment cheque in US dollars equivalent to about 1.6bn/- from the BoT, and between September and December 2005 received further �financial support� from the central bank totaling more than 6bn/-.
More recently, it has been learnt that the ever-enigmatic company is already seeking voluntary liquidation hardly two years after its establishment, having filed for members voluntary winding-up in April this year and appointed Ishengoma as liquidator with effect from July 27 this year.
The voluntary winding-up has been filed under section 360 of the Companies Act of 2002, as stated in the notice delivered to BRELA.
Ishengoma is a partner with the prominent Dar es Salaam law firm IMMA Advocates. Apart from himself and Ms Ndikima, there are no records of any other shareholders or share allotments being made after the companys registration.
Our sources now assert that the apparent disappearance of the Deep Green Co Ltd file from BRELA archives brings into question the companys true controllership, given the fact that it has had such close access to BoT funds during its short lifespan so far.
It is difficult to establish who are the people really behind this company, mainly because the registered owners are actually partners of a leading local law firm, and one of them has even been appointed as the official liquidator of the company, noted one source who insisted on anonymity being maintained.
It is understood that Deep Green Co. Ltd is directly involved with both Meremeta Gold Limited and Tangold Limited, local companies which at one time operated the Buhemba Gold Mine in Musoma, Mara Region, and both of which have in recent months been the beneficiaries of BoT payments to the tune of over $130m (approx. 160bn/-) through accounts in two different banks.
In the case of Meremeta Gold, THISDAY findings show that the central bank made a payment of over $118m (approx. 150bn/-) to South Africas Nedbank through the New York-based HSB Bank, apparently in order to liquidate a loan issued to the company after it had filed for bankruptcy.
It has been further revealed that BoT paid an additional $13.34m (approx. 17bn/-) to another bank account under the name of Tangold Limited, at the National Bank of Commerce Limited Corporate Branch in Dar es Salaam.
Government sources have told THISDAY that in order to effect the payments to Meremeta Gold Company and Tangold, the BoT purchased a 155bn/- Treasury bond and later exchanged the amount into US dollar currency.
The current status of the Meremeta Gold Company now appears uncertain after Finance Minister Ms Zakia Meghji and Energy and Minerals Minister Nazir Karamagi made what opposition legislators described as contradictory statements during this years parliamentary budget session in Dodoma.
While Ms Meghji told the House that the Meremeta gold project was in the final process of winding up, Karamagi later declared before the same House that the government had bought 100 per cent of the company�s shares.
Karamagi said the companys assets and liabilities - including the Buhemba Gold Mine - had since been transferred to Tangold Limited, being a new company wholly owned by the government.
Before apparently being liquidated, Meremeta Gold Company was registered as a joint venture company owned on a 50-50 basis by the Tanzanian Government and a private company called Trinnex (Pty) Limited.
It remains unclear why the government - through the central bank - decided to clear the loan on behalf of Meremeta Gold Company after it became bankrupt, instead of Nedbank filing its claim directly to the liquidator.