kibogo
JF-Expert Member
- Apr 1, 2012
- 9,739
- 4,732
Parliaments Industry and Trade Committee yesterday asked the House to form a team to investigate how the $27 million (Sh43.2 billion) provided by the Chinese government to revive Friendship Textile Company was spent.
Presenting the committees report after Trade and Industry minister Abdallah Kigoda had tabled his ministrys 2014/15 budget estimates, Mr Luhaga Mpina said his team was concerned about the way the money was spent.
He said there were indication that the money was misappropriated, adding that Parliament should form a select committee to investigate the matter.
Mr Mpina, who is also the Kisesa MP, said the government had been reluctant to give clarification despite the committees repeated requests.
The committee visited the Friendship Textile factory and discovered that production had ceased at the plant.
My committee visited the factory recently...there was nothing going on. Some machines had disappeared and a section of the compound had been turned into a vehicle display yard.
Mr Mpina added that some offices and staff quarters had irregularly been rented to outsiders.
He said the committee rejected a government report showing that the Chinese government retained $12 million (Sh19.2 billion) of the grant to buy equipment for the factory and $15 million (Sh24 billion) went into repairing machines and other production facilities.
We are told that a chunk of the money was used to buy equipment, which is nowhere to be seen. Details on the type of equipment bought are also hard to come by.
Mr Mpina also said there was no evidence that $15 billion had been spent on repairing machines at the factory, which is jointly owned by Tanzania and China.
Shadow Industry and Trade minister David Kafulila told Parliament that the government was indifferent to privatised firms that had either failed to resume production or had collapsed altogether.
He said there were at least 32 privatised companies that had been idle for several years.
Presenting the committees report after Trade and Industry minister Abdallah Kigoda had tabled his ministrys 2014/15 budget estimates, Mr Luhaga Mpina said his team was concerned about the way the money was spent.
He said there were indication that the money was misappropriated, adding that Parliament should form a select committee to investigate the matter.
Mr Mpina, who is also the Kisesa MP, said the government had been reluctant to give clarification despite the committees repeated requests.
The committee visited the Friendship Textile factory and discovered that production had ceased at the plant.
My committee visited the factory recently...there was nothing going on. Some machines had disappeared and a section of the compound had been turned into a vehicle display yard.
Mr Mpina added that some offices and staff quarters had irregularly been rented to outsiders.
He said the committee rejected a government report showing that the Chinese government retained $12 million (Sh19.2 billion) of the grant to buy equipment for the factory and $15 million (Sh24 billion) went into repairing machines and other production facilities.
We are told that a chunk of the money was used to buy equipment, which is nowhere to be seen. Details on the type of equipment bought are also hard to come by.
Mr Mpina also said there was no evidence that $15 billion had been spent on repairing machines at the factory, which is jointly owned by Tanzania and China.
Shadow Industry and Trade minister David Kafulila told Parliament that the government was indifferent to privatised firms that had either failed to resume production or had collapsed altogether.
He said there were at least 32 privatised companies that had been idle for several years.
