The Radar Scandal: Investigation & Progress

hisi sijui watajibu nini maana mkapa alipohojiwa na ITV hapa UK mwaka jana alikataa hakuna SWISS ACCOUNT sasa hawa akina SOMAIYA wametokea wapi?
 
Hivi Tanil Somaiya hana hisa kwenye Vodacom Tanzania? Nasikia na Mama mstaafu ana hisa humo; sijui kweli!
 
David Leigh in Dar es Salaam
Monday January 15, 2007
The Guardian


Behind the sultry languor of Coco Beach and the nonchalant good nature of ordinary Tanzanians, there lies an unexpected climate of fear in Dar es Salaam.

The head of the anti-corruption bureau, Edward Hoseah, goes nowhere without bodyguards. One government contractor says: "Our position here is too vulnerable to be seen talking." A European from an NGO says: "They'll throw me out if I go public". And one knowledgeable journalist claims: "If I put my name on the radar story, I could be killed."


It is hard to judge how much of this paranoia is justified. But down Samora Avenue in Dar es Salaam, just across from the ferry terminal to Zanzibar, is an obscure office in the old Avalon cinema building, to which British police have traced the man behind a mystery.



There is no name on the street entrance, just a gap where a nameplate has been unscrewed. But up the stairs to a dingy first floor, there is a door with "Vithcorp Food Packers" on it. Behind is a tiny office. It belongs to Sailesh Vithlani, a plump 42-year-old of Indian extraction. He has a UK passport, and a mother and brother in south London, but in Tanzania he is a power in the land.





He will not comment on reports that he was the commission agent on recent deals to sell Bell helicopters and Iveco lorries to the Tanzanian military. But his business partner, Tanil Somaiya, is more forthcoming. The two are best friends, he says, and grew up together in Mwanza, near Lake Victoria. Mr Somaiya, who runs a mobile phone company and a security firm, confirms that Mr Vithlani was the agent on many military deals, including the Gulfstream jet sold to President Benjamin Mkapa in 2002.



The G550 Special Purpose 18-seater is the longest-range business jet in the world. It can fly 6,700 miles non-stop, and Tanzania acquired the latest model, new off the production line for more than $40m (£21m). This caused some comment in a country where life expectancy is only 43 years, the poorest third of the population live on less than a dollar a day, and 45% of public spending is provided by western donors.



But even more controversy will be provoked by Mr Vithlani's admission that in the same period he was the agent who arranged for $12m to be secretly paid by the UK arms company BAE into a Swiss bank account, in return for the purchase by the Tanzanian government of an overpriced military radar.
The Plessey Commander fighter control system was assembled by a BAE subsidiary on the Isle of Wight for a country that is reported to have only eight operational warplanes. The scheme was dogged by corruption accusations. In 1995, when it was first mooted, the Tanzanian central bank refused to pledge the country's gold reserves to cover the cost, and the plan was dropped.



After the death of the long-serving former president Julius Nyerere the deal was revived, with the offer of a loan from Barclays Bank. This time, it was officials of the World Bank who blew the whistle. The country was negotiating at the time to be forgiven $3bn of foreign debt. The World Bank protested that the radar system, with its sophisticated anti-jamming devices, was unnecessary and wildly expensive. A report said a modest civil air traffic control system could be bought for a quarter of the price.

Clare Short, then development secretary, said the deal could be corrupt and wanted it blocked. Her opposition split the British cabinet. There was a chorus of claims from those involved that the deal was squeaky clean. Mr Mkapa said: "No one has given me an iota of evidence about corruption." Downing Street insisted that "there is no evidence to support this assessment".

BAE claimed to be outraged. Its spokesman was reported as saying: "We won the contract in open competition and it was completely above board. We operate a global company in a very above-board manner, which is the way we have to work nowadays. Everything is becoming more transparent."
Investigators from the Serious Fraud Office, who have been blocked by Downing Street from investigating BAE's Swiss bank transactions linked to the Saudi royal family, have now returned to the federal prosecutor's office in Berne, sources say. This time, they want to know what happened to BAE's Tanzanian money.

Blair's role


The extent of Tony Blair's personal involvement in the Tanzania deal is charted from beyond the grave in The Point of Departure, the memoirs of former foreign secretary Robin Cook.


In December 2001 BAE, then chaired by Sir Dick Evans, lobbied Downing Street, claiming 280 jobs on the Isle of Wight might be at risk. Mr Cook, ousted from his position a few weeks earlier, recorded in his dairy: "Buttonholed by Clare Short, who is full of her latest struggle to prevent the licence."


The cabinet divided on departmental lines. The MoD pushed BAE's case. Jack Straw, the new foreign secretary, fell in with No 10. Patricia Hewitt, at the DTI, said she did not want to quarrel with Blair. Short was only backed by Gordon Brown, and eventually lost.


Blair's intervention on behalf of BAE was leaked to the Guardian. Cook saw him the next day. "He is very exercised with Clare Short briefing the Guardian ... I say 'Hats off to Clare, she reads all the telegrams and knows what is happening'. He responds 'Thanks, but I'll keep my hat on all the same'."


Cook notes: "I came to learn that the chairman of BAE appeared to have the key to the garden door to No 10. Certainly I never knew No 10 to come up with any decision that would be incommoding to BAE."
 
this reminds me of another guy... ambaye jina lake lilikuwa linatajwa tajwa sana kwenya arms trafficking na ambaye serikali ilikuwa ina deal naye.. kwanini tunawatumia sana hawa middle men.. even when national interests are at stake... can somebody please tell me why????
 
Jamani ile rada imerudi tena , na safari hii nadhani tuko karibu sana kujua ni nani katika serikali ya Mkapa alikula mlungula , Tafadhali soma hapo chini uone ni jinsi gani viongozi wanashiriki katika kuijenga nchi yetu .



BAE's secret $12m payout in African deal



Middleman reveals covert cash for 'unnecessary' Tanzanian radar sale

David Leigh in Dar es Salaam and Rob Evans
Monday January 15, 2007
The Guardian


Photograph: Guardian

The UK's biggest arms supplier secretly paid a $12m commission into a Swiss account in a deal which led to Tanzania, one of the world's poorest countries, buying a controversial military radar system.
A Tanzanian middleman, who has a long-standing relationship with military and government figures, has admitted that the sum was covertly moved to a Swiss account by BAE Systems, which is under investigation by the Serious Fraud Office.

The back-door payment represented 30% of the contract value. The east African state had to borrow to finance the deal, which critics said was unnecessary and overpriced

Tony Blair supported the 2002 sale but former cabinet minister Clare Short says she and the chancellor, Gordon Brown, opposed it.
The SFO, which was recently forced to abandon its investigation into commissions paid on a massive arms contract with Saudi Arabia, is now focusing its attention on Tanzania.

Yesterday's admissions by the Tanzanian middleman, Sailesh Vithlani, led Ms Short to call for BAE's prosecution if the allegations were proved. She said the prime minister had been personally responsible for forcing the licence for the Tanzania deal through the cabinet.

"No 10 insisted on letting this go ahead, when it stank," she said. "It was always obvious that this useless project was corrupt."

In Dar es Salaam, Mr Vithlani's business partner, Tanil Somaiya, told the Guardian that British police had already flown out to trace and interview both men as potential witnesses.

He said BAE had made two parallel arrangements with the middlemen. In the first, a conventional agency agreement was signed. Under this, 1% commission was to be paid if the $40m radar deal went through, to a Tanzania-registered firm, Merlin International Ltd.

Mr Vithlani was the majority shareholder in Merlin, Mr Somaiya said, while he had a small token interest himself. BAE paid $400,000 down this route in stage payments, Mr Somaiya said, as the radar equipment was delivered.

But under a second, more unusual agreement, BAE's secretly owned offshore company Red Diamond deposited another $12m, representing 30% of the contract price, in Switzerland. That money was under the personal control of Mr Vithlani, Mr Somaiya said, and this had been admitted to UK police.

When asked about the BAE money, Mr Vithlani told the Guardian he had made no disbursements from the Swiss cash to public officials "in Tanzania". Asked if he had disbursed any of the $12m to third parties outside of Tanzania, he declined to comment. "When the UK police travelled to Tanzania, we met them at their request and answered all their questions," he said.

Mr Vithlani acted as agent not only on the radar deal but also in the 2002 purchase from the US of a top-of-the-range Gulfstream official jet for the then Tanzanian president, Benjamin Mkapa, at a cost of more than $40m.

When asked if he would allow British police to inspect all the transactions on his Swiss account, he declined to comment.

In the secretive world of international arms deals, a commission of 1% to local agents would generally be regarded as legitimate. The government's export credit agency, the Export Credits Guarantee Department, has guidelines under which a "commission" of more than 5-10% is automatically regarded as questionable.

BAE System's payment of as much as 30%, coupled with the use of a Swiss bank account and apparent double sets of agency agreements, would normally arouse suspicions of possible bribery, investigators say.

Police sources in Tanzania said the agreement to use Mr Vithlani as an agent had been signed off by the then chairman of BAE, Sir Dick Evans.

Sir Dick, who has been at the centre of many of the arms deals under investigation, has already been interviewed by the Serious Fraud Office during their two-year inquiry.

BAE Systems were yesterday asked why they had made a 30% payment to Mr Vithlani's Swiss account. The company refused to answer, saying: "We will not be commenting on any point of substance. This cannot of course be taken as any kind of admission."

The SFO also refused to discuss their investigation. The president of Tanzania, Jakaya Kikwete, is due in London today to speak at a meeting with Hilary Benn, the international development secretary, on efforts to overcome corruption in Tanzania.

Later this week, the UK is expected to have to defend its actions over BAE at a meeting of the anti-bribery group of the OECD in Paris.

Norman Lamb, a Liberal Democrat frontbencher and critic of the deal, said: "It was obvious at the time that this deal did not stack up, but Blair still forced it through, against the better judgment of his colleagues. It was not as if he was not warned at the time."

Source:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/armstrade/story/0,,1990523,00.html#article_continue
 
The most interesting part of the whole deal is this sentence here.. read between the lines..


"When asked about the BAE money, Mr Vithlani told the Guardian he had made no disbursements from the Swiss cash to public officials "in Tanzania". Asked if he had disbursed any of the $12m to third parties outside of Tanzania, he declined to comment. "When the UK police travelled to Tanzania, we met them at their request and answered all their questions," he said."
 
Tuacheni na CCM yetu kwiwkikiw Nyie wapinzani mnachonga tu na Siasa ni kujipendekeza na bidii zenu tunaziona kuanzia kwa Kiliba hadi kwako wewe nanihiiii.
 
Wanayo sana ila kumbuka yote yamesha chukua chao mapema kuandika ni kukosana na RA na EL na utabidi urudishe takrima na pia upoteze leseni ya kampuni. Nani yuko tayari ?
 
True dat.Nani yuko radhi kupoteza unga wake kwa ajili ya vitu ambavyo kila kukicha vinaendelea?In fact,kuna watu ambao wanatumia nguvu zao za fedha kufanya lolote lile kuhakikisha kuwa hakuna mtu anaethubutu kutia mchanga kwenye vitumbua vyao.Rafiki yangu mmoja ameninong'oneza kuwa hivi karibuni wafanyakazi wawili wa ippmedia walipigwa na kujeruhiwa na watu wasiojulikana baada ya kuhusishwa na habari moja iliyotoka kwenye gazeti la komesha/kasheshe (sina hakika which btn the two).Kama polisi wanapewa kitu kidogo na hatimaye kuwabambikia kesi feki raia wasio,tunategemea nini kutoka kwa watu kama majambazi au vibaka once wakipewa ofa ya kumfanyizia mtu kwa malipo flani!

Ukimya wa magazeti yetu una maana kubwa zaidi ya inavyoonekana.Je ni watanzania wangapi huko nyumbani wenye kutembelea website ya The Guardian,au BBC,au vyombo vingine vya habari vya nje ya TZ?Jibu ni dhahiri kuwa ni wachache.Kwa mantiki hiyo,kutochapishwa magazetini kwa habari hiyo kumesaidia "kuficha soo" hilo (at least for some few days).
 
Hawa mb... wa kihindi ndo wanaobuni hiyo miradi kwa ku-exploit ulafi wa viongozi wa CCM. Naamini safari hii suala hili lifikia pazuri kwa kuwa EU imeamua kulivalia njuga.
 
Ingalikuwa ni nchi nyingine watu kama hawa huwa wanashughulikiwa kwa nguvu ya umma...lakini watanzania ni wapole mno..Mungu Atusaidie.
 
Kinachonishinda kuhusu sisi waafrika, Rushwa kwetu ni kubomoa na kila tukibanwa utasikia rushwa lipo kila sehemu. jamani kuna Rushwa kama hili kweli nchi za wenzetu?..
Navyojua wao wana kitu chauchau - commission, hii inaweza kuwa rushwa kwa sababu ni nje ya bei ya kinachonunuliwa lakini ni kumzawadia mtu kwa kazi nzuri aliyoifanya ama kutokana na mashindano ktk utandawazi rushwa hili hotukea... lakini kinachouzwa ama kununuliwa ni kitu bora,safi, kinachodumu na kinalingana na mfuko wa matumizi yenyewe. Kitu kikisimama kimesimama watu mnashusha roho!
Lini jamani tutaacha kubomoa na kuanza kujenga!
 
Waafrika bwana tuko kama tuna laana . Hata huwa najiuliza najishangaa how comes watu hawajali wenzao kiasi hicho ? Tanzania ina watu wanaishi maisha motoni hata hawajijui kama kuna watu wenzao .Hawana hata mawasiliano na wenzao bado wamatembea uchi lakini ona JK kwenda UK anasindikizwa na Baraza zima la mawaziri na bado hajaona kama ni mbaya . Hii rushwa mzee sasa imepata hadi 30% ni mbaya sana . Nilishangaa kwa nini Blair alikuwa bega kwa bega na BM kumbe ndiyo haya . Leo JK anaitwa a nice man na Bush and he is proud of that . Haya
 
Imetolewa mara ya mwisho: 16.01.2007 0105 EAT
•
Sakata la ununuzi wa rada Vigogo wadaiwa kuhongwa bl.12/-

Habari Zinazoshabihiana


*Zadaiwa kuingizwa kwenye akaunti zao Uswisi
*Tanzania, Uingereza zakutana kujadili rushwa

Na Mwandishi Wetu

SAKATA la kuwapo rushwa katika ununuzi wa rada iliyoigharimu Serikali ya Tanzania sh. bilioni 50, limeingia katika sura mpya, baada ya mfanyabiashara wa kitanzania, aliyetumika kama wakala katika biashara hiyo, kubainika kuhamishiwa zaidi ya sh. bilioni 12 kwenye akaunti yake Uswisi.

Gazeti la The Guardian la Uingereza, toleo la jana, likinukuu vyanzo kutoka Tanzania na Uingereza, ambako ndiko ilikonunuliwa rada hiyo, lilisema malipo hayo yalifanywa katika mazingira yanayoonesha ni ya kuchagiza kufanikiwa kwa ununuzi huo.

Wakala huyo alielezwa kupitia gazeti hilo, kukiri mbele ya Polisi wa Uingereza kutoka Kitengo Maalumu cha Kuchunguza Makosa ya Kughushi (SFO), akisema fedha hizo ziliingizwa kwenye akaunti moja Uswisi kwa ajili ya kamisheni.

Malipo hayo ya 'mlango wa nyuma' ni sawa na asilimia 30 ya fedha yote iliyotumika kununulia rada hiyo, kitu ambacho ni kinyume na kanuni za ununuzi za kimataifa. Kwa mujibu wa kanuni hizo, malipo ya asilimia moja kwa ajili ya kamisheni ndiyo yanayokubalika.

Ilielezwa kuwa Waziri Mkuu wa Uingereza, Bw. Tony Blair, aliunga mkono ununuzi huo mwaka 2002 ingawa Waziri wake wa Maendeleo ya Kimataifa, Bi. Clare Short aliupinga. Bibi Short baadaye alijiuzulu wadhifa wake.

Kwa mujibu wa gazeti hilo, mfanyabiashara huyo wa Tanzania anayetuhumiwa kuingiziwa fedha hizo, Bw. Sailesh Vithlani, alipohojiwa na mwandishi wa The Guardian kwenye ofisi zake zilizopo jengo la zamani la Avalon, Dar es Salaam, alikataa kuzungumzia suala hilo.

Lakini mshirika wake kibiashara, Bw. Tanil Somaiya, ambaye naye alihojiwa, kwa mujibu wa gazeti hilo, alikuwa tayari kulizungumzia suala hilo akisema tayari Polisi wa Uchunguzi kutoka Uingereza wameshaondoka Tanzania na waliwahoji yeye na mwenzake (Bw. Vithlani) kama mashahidi muhimu.

Bw. Somaiya alisema kampuni ya British Aerospace (BAE Systems) ilijihusisha nao katika matukio mawili. Kwanza waliingia mkataba wa kushirikiana, ambapo kiasi cha asilimia moja ya sh. bilioni 40 ingelipwa kama kamisheni, iwapo mpango mzima wa ununuzi wa rada hiyo ungefanikiwa na kukubaliwa na kampuni ya kitanzania ya Merlin International Limited, ambako Bw. Vithlani ana hisa nyingi za umiliki.

Kwa mujibu wa maelezo ya Bw. Somaiya, aliyehojiwa pia kwenye mahojiano ya uchunguzi huo, kiasi cha dola 400,000 za Marekani kililipwa kama malipo ya awali na BAE.

Lakini katika makubaliano ya pili, ambako ndiko utata uliko, shahidi huyo alikaririwa akisema kampuni inayomilikiwa kwa siri na BAE ya Red Diamond iliingiza dola milioni 12 (zaidi ya sh. bilioni 12), sawa na asilimia 30 ya mradi mzima, katika akaunti Uswisi.

Ilidaiwa kuwa fedha hizo ziliingizwa katika akaunti inayoendeshwa na Bw.Vithlani, kwa mujibu wa The Guardian, ikimkariri Bw. Somaiya, maelezo ambayo tayari yamekubaliwa kama ushahidi kwenye ripoti ya Polisi wa Uingereza.

Alipoulizwa kuhusu fedha hizo, Bw. Vithlani aliiambia The Guardian, kuwa hakutumia fedha hizo kuhonga vigogo wa Serikali nchini Tanzania.

Alipotakiwa kuthibitisha kama kuna watu wengine nje ya Tanzania aliowapa kiasi chochote kati ya hizo dola milioni 12, alikataa kusema lolote lakini akakiri: "Askari wa Uingereza walipokuwa Tanzania, tulikutana nao kwa maombi yao na tulijibu maswali yao yote."

Taarifa zinaonesha, kuwa Bw. Vithlani si tu alikuwa kiunganishi katika mpango wa ununuzi wa rada hiyo inayoendelea kuzua utata mkubwa nchini, bali pia alihusika kwenye ununuzi wa ndege ya kimarekani iliyogharimu zaidi ya dola milioni 40 kwa ajili ya shughuli za Rais nchini.

"Alipoulizwa kama atakubali kuwaruhusu wachunguzi wa Uingereza wakague mwenendo wa akaunti yake ya Uswisi (Bw. Vithlani) alikataa kuzungumzia suala hilo," limeripoti The Guardian.

Lilikariri zaidi kuwa habari kutoka Jeshi la Polisi la Tanzania zilisema makubaliano ya kumtumia Bw. Vithlani kama wakala, yalisainiwa na aliyekuwa Mwenyekiti wa BAE, Sir Dick Evans.

Sir Dick, ambaye amekuwa pia akihusishwa katika uchunguzi mwingine kuhusu utata katika zabuni mbalimbali za ununuzi, naye amekwishahojiwa na askari wanaochunguza suala hili.

Maofisa wa BAE Systems walipohojiwa na kutakiwa kueleza kwa nini walifanya malipo hayo ya asimilia 30 kwenda benki ya Uswisi kwenye akaunti binafsi ya Bw. Vithlani, walikataa kuzungumzia suala hilo na kusisitiza:

"Hatutajibu swali lolote. Lakini hiyo isichukuliwe kwa namna yoyote kwamba tumekubali (kuhusika na uingizaji wa fedha kwenye akaunti ya Uswisi)."

Kwa mujibu wa The Guardian, maofisa wa SFO nao hawakutaka kujadili uchunguzi huo, lakini taarifa zilisema kuwa maofisa wa Serikali ya Uingereza, baadaye wiki hii watahojiwa na kamati ya kupambana na rushwa mjini Paris, Ufaransa.

Uchunguzi zaidi wa Majira umeonesha kuwa Desemba mwaka jana, kampuni ya BEA Systems 'iliponea kwenye tundu la sindano,' kufikishwa mahakamani kwa rushwa baada ya kubanwa kiushahidi kwenye kadhia nyingine ya utata katika mauzo ya ndege ya kivita kwa Serikali ya Saudi Arabia. Ndege hiyo iligharimu pauni bilioni 6 za Uingereza.

Hata hivyo, katika hatua za mwisho, Polisi wa Kikosi Maalumu cha kuchunguza Makosa ya Kughushi, walitangaza kutoishitaki kampuni hiyo kwa rushwa, kwa kile kilichoelezwa kuwa kufanya hivyo kungekuwa kinyume na 'maslahi ya Taifa,' na sera ya Ulinzi ya Uingereza. Bw. Blair aliridhia hatua hiyo.

Jambo hilo liliibua mjadala mkubwa Uingereza, ambako wabunge wa kambi ya upinzani, Bw. Norman Lamb wa chama cha Liberal Domocracy, waliuita uamuzi huo "kitendo cha kusikitisha zaidi."

Asasi ya kimataifa inayojihusisha na vita dhidi ya rushwa na masuala ya Utawala Bora, Transparency International, tawi la Uingereza, nayo ilitoa tamko la kulaani hatua hiyo ya Serikali ya Uingereza, na kusema imeibua maswali mazito zaidi kuhusu uadilifu wa kibiashara wa kampuni ya BAE Systems.

Rais Jakaya Kikwete ambaye yuko mjini London, jana alitarajiwa kufanya mazungumzo na Waziri wa Maendeleo ya Kimataifa wa Uingereza, Hilary Benn, kuhusu juhudi za kupambana na rushwa.

BM NA JK WANAHUSIKA WOTE?
 
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