By ?In2EastAfrica? - Sun Jun 19, 9:01 pm
??0? Comments?
55 views
?
While some Members of Parliament from the opposition camp have asked for a review of their allowances, which they claim are colossal, it has been reliably established that the payments are actually the collateral that enabled them to secure bank loans.
?
Daily News investigations have found that the majority of MPs, from both CCM and the Opposition, took loans ranging from 60m/- to 200m/- from CRDB and NMB banks whose final deductions would be due in 2015 when their tenure expires.
Last week, the Prime Minister, Mr Mizengo Pinda, defended the allowances paid to MPs, saying much as they were seen to be mouth-watering on paper they in actual fact only cover a small fraction of expenses the legislators are incurring to make them discharge their duties smoothly.
Ironically, two top CHADEMA leaders, who have been vocal and championed the debate to have MPs sitting allowances slashed, are among the biggest creditors. One has taken a 196m/- loan and another 100m/- both from CRDB Bank.
Records show that each MP (Daily News is in possession of the long list of the creditors) gets a 2,305,000/- monthly salary plus 5,115,000/- as constituency allowance, making the total deductible pay to 7,420,000,000/-.
The documents indicate that 883,000/- is deducted every month for five years to cover the 45m/- personal car loan each MP was advanced and a further 588,000/- paid as government taxes. However, the package does not cover per diem and sitting allowances which are only paid if an MP has attended Bunge sessions.
So, the claim by the opposition MPs that they want the sitting allowances slashed is purely a publicity stunt, said an impeccable source. The source, who preferred anonymity, said that the legislators, who are beneficiaries of the bank loans whose guarantors are the office of the National Assembly, are not allowed to divert them to another account without a written consent by the three parties.
For example, a document from NMB shows that a 200m/- loan attracts a monthly deduction of 19,815,340/- if it is to be paid within one year, 10,183,540/- ( for 24 months), 7,177,760/- (36 months), 5,722,600/- (48 months) while the same package is charged 4,871,740,000/- per month in a five-year period.
When contacted for comment on Sunday, the Acting Clerk, Mr John Joel, said that bank guarantees are only given to loans whose source of income must come from payments made by the National Assembly.
The National Assembly does not guarantee personal loans by MPs who use other collaterals apart from salaries and some other allowances, he said. On June 7, this year, Mr Zitto Kabwe Kigoma North Chadema) wrote to the Parliament Clerk asking for a total ban on the sitting allowance, which he said was a misuse of public funds. He claimed that such allowance was uncalled for, adding that attending sessions was part of his official duties, thus not deserving to be paid.
However, he instructed the House Clerk to channel his sitting allowance through Kigoma Development Initiative (KDI) of which he is the Chairman of the Board of Trustees until a new system to permanently slash the payment has been put in place.
A number of Chadema MPs told this paper here on Friday last week that they disagreed with their fellow MP on slashing the allowances.
They said that Mr Kabwe was advancing his personal views to gain political gains while the party is heading towards picking a presidential candidate for the 2015 general elections. Last week, the Prime Minister, Mr ?Mizengo Pinda?, defended the allowances paid to MPs, saying much as they were seen to be mouth-watering on paper they in actual fact only cover a small fraction of expenses the legislators are incurring to make them discharge their duties smoothly.
Meanwhile, the National Assembly session resumes here on Monday morning with a debate on the 2011/12 budget estimates.
Source ?Tanzania Daily News