The Radar Scandal: Investigation & Progress

[August]

kwanza walipo jua ana urai wa uk na tz hapo hapo wangemshikana kumshtaki kwa hilo kosa,then kama kifungo chake kingekuwa kimekwisha wange muweka chini ya uangalizi, na hii kazi ndugu zetu wa takukuru wamesomea, sasa mpaka sisi tuwakumbushe wajibu wao au walicho takiwa kufanya?

 

[Mfamaji]

May be its time now to substatiate the statement ya Pesa Mbili Mramba. JF mwaikumbuka? It was an obvious insult to wabongo. Atajibu 2.

 

[Bongolander]

Kama ni kweli serikali (PCCB) imesema huyu jamaa ana uraia wa nchi mbili tunatakiwa kujua uraia wake wa nchi mbili ulijulikana lini, na ni nani walikuwa wanajua kuwa huyo Mtanzania ana uraia wa nchi mbili na kwanini walikaa kimya bila kuviarifu vyombo husika kuhusu hili jambo.
Na kama serikali(ikiwa ni pamoja na Mawaziri) ilijua hilo, ni kwanini ilishirikiana na mtu ambaye right from the begining alionekana kuwa ni mvunjaji wa Sheria, ni vizuri itueleze kwanini ina double standards.

 

[Mwakilishi]

Aaa wapi! Hakuna cha PCCB wala TAKUKURU longolongo tu... Jamaa si ajabu wamemsindikiza wenyewe airport vizuri tu tena kapitia VIP huyooo katimua zake...halafu ndio wanakuja na lame excuses eti ajitokeze... Mramba si yuko, ajitokeze na yeye awataje wote waliogawana hiyo $12,000,000
Hapa hata mazingaombwe ya Profesa Maji Marefu cha mtoto!

 

[Gaijin]

siasa za tanzania ni mazingaombwe tena kweli kweli.

mtu walikuwa nae wakamuachia sasa wanamsaka!! hii inadhihirisha kuwa hawakuwa na nia ya kumfikisha kwenye sheria kwa vile pesa zote hizo hajala peke yake. wakubwa wanamkingia kifua, na JK anajua. aibu kweli kweli

 

[Choveki]

siasa za tanzania ni mazingaombwe tena kweli kweli. ....mtu walikuwa nae wakamuachia sasa wanamsaka!!

Nadhani ndiyo mazingaombwe yenyenwe hayo, sungura tunamwona akitolewa kwenye kofia!

 

[BAK]

May be its time now to substatiate the statement ya Pesa Mbili Mramba. JF mwaikumbuka? It was an obvious insult to wabongo. Atajibu 2.

Naam bado tunaikumbuka. Mramba alisema,"Tutakula hata majani, lakini rada lazima inunuliwe." Na bado anapeta kama waziri. Hivi mabadiliko makubwa ya baraza la mawaziri yaliyotabiriwa na wajuzi wa mambo ya siasa bado yapo au yameshakuwa history!?

 

[BAK]

Radar case in danger of becoming a farce: As Vithlani avoids corruption charges and gets slapped with perjury instead

PCCB director-general Edward Hosea: Despite the Bureau's highly-public announcement on Monday, it has now emerged that the case against Vithlani is not being handled by PCCB after all, but by the attorney-general's chambers

THISDAY REPORTER
Dar es Salaam

IN the latest twist to the protracted 28 million pounds sterling (approx. 70bn/-) military radar and air traffic control system purchase saga, it has now emerged that the middleman involved in the highly-suspect deal has been charged with a lesser offence of perjury rather than corruption in a Dar es Salaam court.

Details of the charge sheet related to the much-anticipated trial at the Kisutu Resident Magistrate's Court, as seen yesterday by THISDAY, reveal that none of the three counts of criminal indictments brought against lead suspect Shailesh Pragji Vithlani is directly related to corruption.

Instead, the man who is seen as the main broker of the deal involving the alleged payment of illegal kickbacks to various officials to sanction the 2002 radar purchase by the Tanzanian Government, is only facing two counts of lying in court and one of lying to an investigating officer.

In the first count, Vithlani 'a businessman of Asian extraction and dual Tanzanian/British citizenship' is charged with committing perjury while testifying in a separate case before Magistrate Katarina Revocati at the same Kisutu court on July 25 last year.

It is alleged that he gave false testimony while under oath in court proceedings on the purchase of the military radar at a price quoted by prosecutors as equivalent to $39,972,450 (approx. 52bn/-).

The charge sheet states that Vithlani lied to the court that a company linked to the radar deal, known as Envers Trading Corporation, was owned by one Pablo J. Espino and Adelina M. Estriby, while in actual fact he himself (Vithlani) was the company's proprietor and director.

Prosecutors also alleged that Vithlani was paid $12,391,459.50 (approx. 15bn/-) as a consultancy fee, equivalent to 31 per cent of the radar purchase price, based on a contract entered between Red Diamond Trading Corporation and Envers Trading Corp.

The charge sheet does not give details about the July 2006 case before magistrate Revocati where Vithlani is alleged to have made the false statements. However, it is understood that the same magistrate has been presiding over a case in which nine people were charged with engaging in espionage and causing 200m/- worth of sabotage to a component of the same military radar system.

In that case, the accused persons - including a member of the Tanzania People's Defence Forces are alleged to have committed the offences of espionage and sabotage on June15 last year at TPDF's 691 KJ Changanyikeni military installation in Kinondoni District, Dar es Salaam.

Back to the new case, where in the second count of perjury Vithlani is alleged to have, on July 28 last year, knowingly given false testimony before the same court by claiming that he was paid just $390,000 (approx. 500m/-) by the radar manufacturer BAE Systems of Britain, being only one per cent of the sale price.

Under section 102 of The Penal Code, offenders are ''liable to imprisonment for seven years'' upon conviction for each count of perjury.

In the third count, Vithlani is charged with giving false information to a senior official of the Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau (PCCB), one Kassim Ephrem.

It is alleged that on December 27 last year, at the Sea Cliff Hotel in Dar es Salaam, Vithlani lied to the PCCB official that BAE Systems paid him a commission of just one per cent for facilitating the radar deal.

According to the charge sheet, Vithlani knew this to be false information ''intended to affect the investigative measure carried out by the said Kassim Ephrem (PCCB official) in relation to the purchase process of the air traffic control system which involves the government of the United Republic of Tanzania.''

Furthermore, official court records show that although an arrest warrant against Vithlani has been issued since August 30 this year, the perjury charges against him were filed only last Thursday (November 1).

According to an announcement by PCCB spokesperson Ms Mary Mosha at a news conference in Dar es Salaam on Monday, the long-running investigations into suspected corruption in the 2002 radar deal have been concluded and Vithlani identified as one of the main suspects.

She disclosed that Vithlani has already been formally charged at the Kisutu court, albeit in absentia as he is understood to have left the country sometime ago on what appears to have become an extended trip abroad.

But in the latest surprise twist, it has now emerged that the PCCB has after all not instituted any prosecution of corruption charges against Vithlani. Instead, the charge sheet outlining perjury charges against the businessman was signed by an unnamed state attorney.

 

[Invisible]

Thanks Bubu ataka kusema,

Now you're talking! Topics concerning this Radar issue have been merged to have a good flow. Edward Hosea topics also merged.

Karibu

 

[Nyangumi]

Watu wanadai tumpe JK kipindi chake chote ndo tutaona matunda. Inashangaza sana kwani issue hii iiko ikulu lakini walianza kuiona imeoza au inahitaji kushughulikiwa ni watu walioko nje.
Hapa tutaletewa hekaya za Abunuasi.Hawawezi kumleta huyu Mhindi kwa ni wanajua wazi akishafikishwa mahakamani hataficha siri.

 

[Koba]

hakuna kesi hapo ni usanii tuu na tafadhari wasitupotezee muda na waendelee na speed hii hii,tunawasubiri 2010!

 

[Idimi]

hakuna kesi hapo ni usanii tuu na tafadhari wasitupotezee muda na waendelee na speed hii hii,tunawasubiri 2010!

Kwa staili ya kesi za Danganyika, naungana na wewe kuwa hapo inatafutwa tiktak na mahali pa kukimbilia, kwani Vithlani akifikishwa mahakamani kwa kesi ya rada huenda tukayajua mengi mengine ambayo hatukuwa nayo. Kwa hiyo jamaa anashtakiwa kwa uongo, na sio kushiriki katika mlungula wa rada.

Mazingaombwe asubuhi subuhi.

 

[Mzee Mwanakijiji]

Nitawawekea nakala ya mashtaka toka Mahakama ya Kisutu... dakika chache zijazo...

 

[Mzee Mwanakijiji]

KLH Promises.... and it delivers..! (in most cases anyway..)

 

[Invisible]

Or simply just click here and download to have your copy.

Thanks

 

[Rwabugiri]

Bravo JF,
Ila some time ukiona haya madudu unakosa usingizi! kesi isha isha igizo karibia lina kamilika na pazia la jukwaa litafungwa!! Tumekwisha!

 

[Halisi]

Lakini inavyoonekana hii kesi haikutoka PCCB, imetoka AG chambers, kwa kuwa chini imesainiwa na State Attorney... Huko ndiko alikotoka AG wa zamani, Andrew Chenge, ambaye ana mizizi mikuu na yeye ni muhusika wa kesi ya radar

 

[Mzee Mwanakijiji]

This is absolutely silly. Nashangaa kwanini wasomi wetu waendesha mashtaka baada ya:

a. Kwamba alisema kampuni fulani si ya kwake, kampuni ambayo inatambulika kuwa ni ya kwake na akalipwa mabilioni ya shilingi kwa kutumia akaunti hiyo, swali: KWA nini hawakumshtaki kwa makosa ya kujipatia fedha kwa njia ya udanganyifu?

b. Kwenye kosa la pili ambapo alisema uongo kwa afisa wa PCCB kuhusu malipo aliyoyapata kwanini ameshtakiwa kwa kosa la kusema uongo kwa afisa wa serikali (kosa dogo) badala ya kosa la Obstruction of justice (I'm not sure kwenye Penal Code yetu tunalo kosa kama hilo. Ni sawa sawa na Polisi anakuja nyumbani ambako kumetokea uhalifu na kuuliza mtu "fulani yuko wapi" na yule mtu ilhali akijua amemficha chumbani kwake anamwambia afisa wa Polisi "alikuwa hapa lakini akaondoka". Baadaye ikijulikana alisema uongo ili kupinda utafutwaji wa haki, anashtakiwa kwa kosa la Obstruction na siyo kusema uongo.

 

[Bongolander]

Kwanini inaonekana kuwa mzizi wenyewe wa kosa umewekwa pembeni,na jamaa anatuhumiwa kudanganya. Kwanini ufisadi hauhusishiwi? Adhabu ya kudanganya si inaweza kuwa ni fine ya shilingi 5000 tu?

 

[Kweku]

Cool. Kila siku naamini kuwa subira yavuta kheri