ACTIVISTS RAIL ANBEM LTD BUSINESS DEALINGS AS: Abuse of office
THISDAY REPORTER
Dar es Salaam
OPPOSITION leaders and legal experts have accused former president Benjamin Mkapa and his wife of abuse of office following their controversial establishment of their own private company and actively doing business as entrepreneurs while still in public office at State House.
Several political and legal commentators have maintained that while the act of registering a company wasnt illegal in itself, doing business as sole directors of a company while serving the nation at the highest level was unacceptable.
The national chairman of the opposition Civic United Front, Prof. Ibrahim Lipumba, has now challenged the former president to publicly declare his wealth. This comes in the wake of revelations that Mr Mkapa and the former First Lady, Anna Mkapa, registered their own private company, ANBEM Limited in 1999, just four years into his presidency.
The CUF leader accused Mr Mkapa of abuse office, saying the decision of the former president to call himself an entrepreneur while entrusted with the full-time job of leading Tanzania was scandalous.
Mkapa declared his wealth in 1995 when entering office, but I havent heard him listing his assets after leaving public office, Prof. Lipumba said.
He added: The act of starting his own private company and operating as sole directors of the company with the First Lady while still at State House amounts to abuse of that public office.
Dr. Sengondo Mvungi, an opposition leader and law lecturer from the University of Dar es Salaam, criticised the former president for starting a company with the First Lady well into their first term in office.
When Mr Mkapa registered his own company before even finishing his first term in office, did this mean that the state could not adequately provide for him and his family? He queried.
I think it was nothing other than the selfishness of our political leaders in office.
Like Prof. Lipumba, Dr Mvungi also stated that doing business while at State House constituted abuse of public office.
I will be surprised if no action is taken ... this will send a wrong message to Tanzanians and set a bad precedence that our leaders can do anything with impunity while in office, he charged.
You cannot just do as you wish and hide under the cover of presidential immunity.
A top government official told THISDAY that while there is no specific law prohibiting a sitting president from starting an own company while at Ikulu, the practice was inherently unethical.
To have a sitting president and First Lady actually start their own company in the middle of their presidency and serve as sole directors of the company is quite extraordinary, said the government official who preferred not to be named.
The Code of Ethics Act (Amended) of 2001, which is also cited as Act No. 5 of 2001, covers issues of code of conduct and ethics for civil servants.
The Executive Director of the Legal and Human Rights Centre (LHRC), Ms Helen Kijo-Bisimba, said she was personally shocked by revelations of the former State House couple doing business from Ikulu.
It is totally unbelievable ... this is against principles of good governance and public leadership ethics, she said.
Ms Kijo-Bisimba said the Father of the Nation, Mwalimu Julius Kambarage Nyerere, had set very high standards for integrity, modesty and sacrifice to the nation.
It now appears that all these noble ideals died with Mwalimu in 1999, noted Ms Kijo-Bisimba, echoing the sentiments of many other activists.
Likewise, Mr Tundu Lissu from the Lawyers Environmental Action Team (LEAT), criticised the Mkapa familys business dealings while at Ikulu, saying the presidency was a full-time job and demanded all the concentration and attention of the incumbent.
There is no immunity for abuse of office ... Tanzanians as lawful citizens of this nation can rightly decide to take legal action, he remarked.
A veteran lawyer and politician, Mr Mabere Marando, noted that while the law is silent on business dealings done by a sitting president, there were issues of conflict of interest and undue influence to consider.
Tanzanian laws are silent on the issue of the president doing business while in office ... But is there any bank manager who will say no to the president when he applies for a loan? He queried.
The company owned by former president Benjamin Mkapa and first lady Anna Mkapa applied for and was granted a hefty $500,000 loan from the National Bank of Commerce Limited in 2002.
With the then State House couple acting as sole directors, ANBEM Limited also received an additional loan of 250m/- from CRDB Bank Limited in the same year.
THISDAY has sent written questions to Mr Mkapas office in Dar es Salaam regarding the nature of the business transactions conducted by himself and Mrs Mkapa while at Ikulu. No response has been forthcoming so far.