No rush on graft cases, says JK

[Invisible]

President Jakaya Kikwete has reiterated that prosecution of corruption suspects will proceed carefully, rejecting calls to drag people to court en masse. He told Tanzanians living in Mozambique here on Tuesday evening that thorough investigations must be carried out to gather convincing evidence before suspects were arraigned.

“We cannot take people to court on the basis of public demand. We must gather concrete evidence first,” he emphasized, explaining that some of the suspects were high profile public figures, whose reputation should not be tarnished unnecessarily. The president said some people had compiled lists of individuals they purported to be corrupt and were calling for their immediate prosecution.

Two former ministers and a retired Permanent Secretary in the Treasury have been arraigned by the Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau (PCCB) for abuse of office and causing over 11bn/- loss to the government. Prominent businessmen and senior Bank of Tanzania (BoT) officials are also standing trial for the theft of 133bn/- from the now infamous External Payments Arrears (EPA) account.

The PCCB says it is investigating six high profile cases of corruption involving senior public servants. There is lingering suspicion on the authenticity of a number of public contracts and procurements, including the Dar es Salaam International Airport radar, Presidential jet, Richmond emergency power project, Buzwagi gold mine and Kiwira coal mine.

The Daily News

 

[Mama]

No rush.....no rush..... no rush. Now the projection is that all these graft cases will end after 2010 when all the defendats will enter nolo contendere.

 

[Bulesi]

Mama hapo juu kasema kweli, hii ni janja ya nyani kwani kesi hizi za hawa mafisadi watazivuta mpaka uchaguzi wa 2010 halafu kila mmoja wao ataachiwa!! Hawa jamaa wanatupiga madongo ya macho watawapandisha kizimbani wengi tu halafu watawaachia; hata GOLDENBERG ya Kamlesh Pattni aliyetumiwa na moribund KANU kuiba Benki kuu Kenya Kesi yake ilivutwa mpaka mwisho ikafutwa. Muungwana ajue tu kuwa tunajua mbini zake asitufanye mabwege.

 

[Bongolander]

Kuna mengi yanaonekana kuwa bado yanafichwa. Kwanini Mramba, Yona na Mgonja wanafunguliwa mashitaka ya kulitia hasara taifa tu. Mbona EPA hawasemwi? Mramba, Mgonja wanaconnection nzuri sana na EPA. Mashitaka waliyofunguliwa hukumu yake itakuwa ni ya kuchekesha sana, tutapigwa bao mpaka tutajicheka kesi yao inaweza kuendeshwa kwa miaka 20 na hukumu inatolewa wakiwa na matatizo ya kiafya, halafu wanatumikia kifungo cha nje.
Trick yote ya kuwafikisha hawa jamaa mahakamni zaidi ni kuwa-fool international community ili wazidi ku-pump hela Tanzania halafu walaji waendelee kuila, na dalili zinaonesha kuwa wameingia mkenge ni kama wanataka kuendelea kutoa hela, hao ndio audi zetu kwa sasa.

 

[Kuhani]

``We cannot take people to court on the basis of public demand. We must gather concrete evidence first," explaining that some of the suspects were high profile public figures, whose reputation should not be tarnished unnecessarily.``

Rais wa nchi anasema watu maarufu wachukuliwe kwa uangalifu zaidi mbele ya vyombo vya sheria ili wasije kuchafuliwa!

Ni Tanzania tu ndio unaweza kusema hicho kitu, lakini nchi za wengine ungetoa tamko hilo watu wangeandama na mabango mpaka jumba la Rais kumtaka awapishe!

Haelewi misingi ya "equal protection" na "due process" of law.

Mtu yeyote yule anaeingizwa katika mkondo wa sheria na kuanza kuchunguzwa, kushitakiwa, kutwikwa gharama za kujitetea, kulazimika kujitafutia njia za dhamana, kuanikwa nyeti zake mahakamani, kupoteza kazi kabla hata ya matokeo ya kesi, haya yote ni mzigo ambao hakuna anaetaka kuubeba. Uwe mstaafu waziri au mshutumiwa wizi wa ng'ombe, hakuna anaependa.

Kwa sababu ya kuhakikisha kwamba mtu hata sokomezwa katika mkondo wa sheria bila hiana, na bila vidhibiti, na bila haki, na bila nafasi ya kujitetea, watu wa jamii zote zilizo staarabika wakajiwekea msingi wa uendeshaji sheria unaoitwa, kwa lugha ya common law ya mwingereza, "due process of law." Katika katiba yetu msingi huo umesimikwa katika Ibara ya 15, kwamba huwezi kukamatwa kamatwa ovyo tu bila kufuata taratibu za kisheria, ikiwemo shuku ya msingi iliyotokana na uchunguzi yakinifu kutafuta vidhibiti vya makosa. Ni vizuri Kikwete anakiongelea hiki kitu manake siku zote kimekuwa kikidharauliwa, toka enzi za watawala wa nyuma, za vinara wa uasisi wa nchi yetu. Maana watu waliswekwaswekwa kwenye vyumba vya giza na hewa isiyotosha bila sheria. Siku wakitolewa baada ya miaka wanakuwa tayari wana magonjwa ya vifua, wanakaa kidogo wanakufa. Humo kizuizini hakuna cha kupewa daktari, achilia mbali "due process."

Lakini muhimu ni kwamba pembeni ya "due process" kuna msingi-dada wake mwingine unaofuatwa na jamii zote zilizopevukia haki, na katika katiba yetu unaoitwa, kwa lugha ya common law "equal protection" of law, ambao katika katiba yetu umechimbiwa katika Ibara ya kumi na tatu:

``Watu wote ni sawa mbele ya sheria, na wanayo haki, bila ya ubaguzi wowote, kulindwa na kupata haki sawa mbele ya sheria...Ni marufuku kwa sheria yoyote iliyotungwa na mamlaka yoyote katika Jamhuri ya Muungano kuweka sharti lolote ambalo ni la ubaguzi ama wa dhahiri au kwa taathira yake.``

Huwezi - ni dhambi ya asili katika misingi ya haki - kusema kwamba tunapotaka kumchunguza waziri mstaafu Andrew Chenge, au mwanasiasa mfadhili Rostam Aziz, au mstaafu mkuu wa wakuu, Benjamin Mkapa, basi hawa uwachukulie kwa makini zaidi ili wasije chafuliwa jina. Lahasha!

"Due Process" inaenda sambamba na, na inajumuisha, "Equal Protection."

Unaposema utakuwa mwangalifu zaidi unapomchunguka kiongozi eti usimchafulie jina kuliko unapomchunguka mwizi wa mtaani ina maana mtu wa kawaida yuko chini ya mfumo tofauti wa sheria.

Sasa kama tunataka kuwa na mifumo miwili ya sheria basi ingeleta mantiki kama tungepindua mambo juu chini tukafanya huyu kiongozi msadikiwa wizi huyu ndie tungemburuza ovyo ovyo kumharakisha kumpatia adhabu bila umakini wa uchunguzi maana huyu ndie alipewa dhamana ya wananchi na taadhima ya jamii, uwaziri mkuu, ukatibu mkuu, uamiri jeshi mkuu. Isitoshe, huyu anasadikiwa kuiba mabilioni wakati mwenzake ana kesi mbuzi ya kuiba kuku!

 

[Pundit]

Kikwete kashawahi kusikia the concept of "equal protection under the law"? Mimi nilifikiri kila mtu anatakiwa kuhukumiwa kwa umakini, au ndiyo mambo ya the Orwellian equality kwamba "everybody is equal, but some are more equal"?

Rais anahitaji msaada wa kupigwa msasa on some basics za civics and governance.

 

[BAK]

What happened to Ari mpya, nguvu mpya na kasi mpya!?