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Sitta faults court on `tainted` oil move
2008-10-10 12:12:40
By Rodgers Luhwago
National Assembly Speaker Samuel Sitta has expressed ``profound shock`` over the issuance of an injunction by a court in Morogoro in favour of oil dealers alleged to have been selling adulterated fuel.
The injunction effectively nullified an earlier order by the Energy and Water Utilities Regulatory Authority (Ewura) that a string of filling stations in the municipality close shop after it had found them selling contaminated oil.
Sitta told The Guardian in an exclusive interview yesterday that he would write to the Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Constitutional, Legal and Public Administration asking him to take a fresh look at the law on injunctions.
``It is sad seeing the judiciary misusing the law on injunctions by imposing court orders to protect the interests of a few individuals at the expense of the well-being of the public,`` noted a stunned Speaker Sitta.
Dwelling on the injunction issued by the Morogoro Resident Magistrate`s Court last week, he said he was deeply shocked to learn that the court had acted ``in favour of individuals tampering with fuel while knowing that contaminating oil endangered the safety of motorists and their vehicles``.
``To be frank, the decision by the Morogoro Resident Magistrate`s Court is a reflection of misuses of the law governing injunctions.
The court should have given Ewura the opportunity to argue its case before giving its verdict,`` observed Sitta, himself a lawyer.
Sitta, in the saddle as ``standards and speed`` House Speaker for about three years now, called on the government to have no mercy on businesspeople tampering with the quality of fuel ``because these people are no different from economic saboteurs``.
``Just imagine a passenger bus refuelling on adulterated oil at a filling station and soon after it gets going its engines run down at a spot where it is easy for armed bandits to rob passengers. Who would be to blame?`` he queried.
The Speaker said legal shortcomings like the one noted made it necessary for the State to take a fresh look at the Civil Procedure Code ``to ensure that crooks do not take advantage of the law at the expense of the interests of the majority``.
`Where in this world are individual interests freely allowed to override public interests? Where have you seen this philosophy?
It is quite strange,`` he pointed out, adding that it was dangerous for courts of law to use injunctions to protect the interests of the rich.
The Speaker was reacting to the main front page story in Wednesday`s edition of this paper on an injunction issued by the court following an application filed by National Oil, one of the oil dealers targeted by the Ewura move.
Issuing the ruling, the court said it was convinced by the arguments raised in National Oil`s application that implementing Ewura`s plea would make the company suffer huge losses.
Chief Justice Augustine Ramadhani declined to comment on the issue when reached by phone, saying he would only do so after seeing the file of the case and knowing the details.
``It is very difficult for me to comment on the subject because I need to see the file of the case first. Secondly, I can`t comment on second-hand information.
It would have been easier for me to comment had (House Speaker) Sitta spoken to me directly,`` he said.
The CJ added that commenting on Sitta`s remarks would create ``unnecessary misunderstandings between the judiciary and the legislature and fear among judges and magistrates which could disrupt their activities``.
However, he said he would dispatch officials to Morogoro ``to study the facts of the case instead of issuing blanket statements to the media``.
SOURCE: Guardian
2008-10-10 12:12:40
By Rodgers Luhwago
National Assembly Speaker Samuel Sitta has expressed ``profound shock`` over the issuance of an injunction by a court in Morogoro in favour of oil dealers alleged to have been selling adulterated fuel.
The injunction effectively nullified an earlier order by the Energy and Water Utilities Regulatory Authority (Ewura) that a string of filling stations in the municipality close shop after it had found them selling contaminated oil.
Sitta told The Guardian in an exclusive interview yesterday that he would write to the Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Constitutional, Legal and Public Administration asking him to take a fresh look at the law on injunctions.
``It is sad seeing the judiciary misusing the law on injunctions by imposing court orders to protect the interests of a few individuals at the expense of the well-being of the public,`` noted a stunned Speaker Sitta.
Dwelling on the injunction issued by the Morogoro Resident Magistrate`s Court last week, he said he was deeply shocked to learn that the court had acted ``in favour of individuals tampering with fuel while knowing that contaminating oil endangered the safety of motorists and their vehicles``.
``To be frank, the decision by the Morogoro Resident Magistrate`s Court is a reflection of misuses of the law governing injunctions.
The court should have given Ewura the opportunity to argue its case before giving its verdict,`` observed Sitta, himself a lawyer.
Sitta, in the saddle as ``standards and speed`` House Speaker for about three years now, called on the government to have no mercy on businesspeople tampering with the quality of fuel ``because these people are no different from economic saboteurs``.
``Just imagine a passenger bus refuelling on adulterated oil at a filling station and soon after it gets going its engines run down at a spot where it is easy for armed bandits to rob passengers. Who would be to blame?`` he queried.
The Speaker said legal shortcomings like the one noted made it necessary for the State to take a fresh look at the Civil Procedure Code ``to ensure that crooks do not take advantage of the law at the expense of the interests of the majority``.
`Where in this world are individual interests freely allowed to override public interests? Where have you seen this philosophy?
It is quite strange,`` he pointed out, adding that it was dangerous for courts of law to use injunctions to protect the interests of the rich.
The Speaker was reacting to the main front page story in Wednesday`s edition of this paper on an injunction issued by the court following an application filed by National Oil, one of the oil dealers targeted by the Ewura move.
Issuing the ruling, the court said it was convinced by the arguments raised in National Oil`s application that implementing Ewura`s plea would make the company suffer huge losses.
Chief Justice Augustine Ramadhani declined to comment on the issue when reached by phone, saying he would only do so after seeing the file of the case and knowing the details.
``It is very difficult for me to comment on the subject because I need to see the file of the case first. Secondly, I can`t comment on second-hand information.
It would have been easier for me to comment had (House Speaker) Sitta spoken to me directly,`` he said.
The CJ added that commenting on Sitta`s remarks would create ``unnecessary misunderstandings between the judiciary and the legislature and fear among judges and magistrates which could disrupt their activities``.
However, he said he would dispatch officials to Morogoro ``to study the facts of the case instead of issuing blanket statements to the media``.
SOURCE: Guardian
