Ufisadi wa Tanil Somaiya

[BAK]

Somaiya speaks out on Tanzania gov't scandals
Monday, 28 April 2008
By Daniel Said
EA BUSINESS WEEK

DAR ES SALAAM, TANZANIA - In a new twist, a top businessman in Tanzania, Mr. Tanil Somaiya who is at the centre of controversy in relation to allegations of his involvement in recent scandals in Tanzania, has broken his silence saying that he has "never done any business with the government."

Speaking on phone with EastAfrican Business Week in a country he did not like to mention last week, Somaiya said that he was surprised to hear that he has severally been implicated in the scandals involving the presidential jet, military radar, supplying of military trucks and helicopters to Tanzania.

"Am about 42 years old, with more than 20 years in business, but let me assure you and Tanzanians that I have never in my life done any business with the Tanzania government," the tycoon said.

Somaiya, believed to have bought about six companies in recent years, said that the monies came from other businesses and not from business with the government.

"The money came from other businesses, they are not related to commissions paid by the government or whatsoever," he said.

This newspaper sought for Somaiya's comments following reports that he had in recent years acquired about six companies with money believed to have been paid to him as commissions following the alleged four deals with the government.

Among his acquired assets is a multibillion private luxurious boat and one of Tanzania's biggest security companies, Ultimate Security Company.

"I know nothing about the radar, the presidential jet and military trucks said to have been supplied to the government and I challenge you to find my name in those transactions," he said.

Somaiya said that his files at the Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA) were 'clean and open for anyone to peruse.' "I conduct clean businesses in the country; these allegations come from my business competitors," he said.

The name of Tanil Somaiya has been central to recent would be scandals.

These include the purchase of a top-of-the range Gulfstream jet from the US for former President Benjamin Mkapa and the purchase of six Italian helicopters for the Tanzania Peoples' Defence Forces (TPDF).

Others are the purchase of a military-air defence radar and the acquisition of an Italian fleet of Iveco trucks for the army. Somaiya is believed to be the local representative of Iveco.

At the centre of controversy is the military air defence radar system bought from BAE Systems of the UK in 2001 for 28 million British pounds.

It was disclosed in January 2007 that BAE had used Lloyds Bank and an offshore front company, Red Diamond, to pay a huge secret commission totaling 30% of the radar's price into a Swiss account.

It was reported that the account belonged to Mr. Sailesh Vithlani, an agent closely connected with the Tanzanian military while it has alleged that the second smaller payment of one percent was made to a local Tanzanian company, run by Vithlani with his partner and friend Tanil Somaiya.

But Somaiya insists that he had no knowledge of Vithlani's Swiss bank arrangements. Vithlani, now believed to be a fugitive in Switzerland, is being sought by both local Tanzania police and the Interpol.

The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) in London discovered that about $12 million was secretly paid as kickbacks to Somaiya and Vithilani and it is alleged that some of the cash went to government officials in Tanzania.

However, it has proved difficult to obtain hard evidence of onward receipts of money by Tanzanian officials or politicians although it has been established that Vithlani had been the intermediary at the centre of a whole network of other questionable military procurements.

 

[Lunyungu]

Watasema mmoja baada ya mwingine .It is our time nguvu ya Umma .

 

[Jamco_Za]

Mkapa mbona hajitokezi akasema kama huyu hata kwa kukataa tu.

 

[mwanatanu]

Jamani hapa JF tunawashambulia sana hawa viongozi fisadi wenye vijisenti lakini kumbe kuna ma big fish hawa VITHLANI, JEETU,SOMAIYA,ROSTAM n.k....

Sometimes huwa naanza kujiuliza kama Idi Amin alikuwa na vision moja ajabu....i do not condone Idi Amin but....?

 

[Mwakilishi]

Ok, Tanil Somaiya anasema yeye safi na tena anatoa mwaliko wa kukaguliwa makabrasha yake TRA, halafu anampa changamoto mwandishi amwibulie jina lake kwenye ufisadi anaodaiwa kuhusika nao.
Sasa swali, je ni kweli huyu bwana safi au ndio kukana kila kitu "ki-rostam rostam" au kuna la ziada?" Kwa harakaharaka nakumbuka jina lake lilionekana katika kashfa ya Ndege ya Rais au katika ile ya rada au kote tu, anyway ngoja nichungulie kwenye archives

 

[Mwakilishi]

Sasa sijui Tanil Somaiya anayetajwa hapa ni mwingine au vipi?

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."

The entire article can be found here: BAE's secret $12m payout in African deal | World news | The Guardian

 

[Lambardi]

Jamani tunarudia tena na tena....wasije wakatudharau sisi wa tz kutuona hatuna akili na hatujui kufuatilia...ile misemo yao ya uoga na kuridhika na matokeo ya vyombo habari kama kujiuzulu nk,sasa tumeamka na tuko makini sana..ina maaana deal zima la rada na uchunguzi umemwonea??asitudhihaki kamwe...alikuwa wapi muda wote huo kujibu??time will tell.....truth will prevail.......

 

[Zanaki]

Rostam nae alisema kuwa hausiki kabisa na Richmond......Chenge nae alisema hausiki kabisa na rada....Rostam tena akasema hausiki na EPA...Lowassa akasema hausiki na Richmond....Msabaha yeye ni bangusilo...naona hawa wanatumia ile philosophy ya Bill Clinton,DENY..DENY..DENY!

 

[Tuandamane]

Watasema mmoja baada ya mwingine .It is our time nguvu ya Umma .

Lunyungu huezi kuamini mkuu kuyu jamaa siku moja nilipita karibu na ofisi yake niliyaona haya:

kiongozi mmoja yaelekea ni mkuu sana katika jeshi la wanachi (sikumjua jina) alikwenda pale na alitoka na mfuko wa malboro, sina hakika kama ilikuwa ni pesa, ila ramani ya mfuko ulijipinda mlundokano wa noti.na alikuwa na walinzi kama watatu hivi, (najuta na kusikitika kwa kutopiga picha na camera nilikuwa nayo-nilikuwa na haraka nawahi mahali)

nilimuliza mwenyeji wangu kwani huyo muhindi anilukwa ni nani ndo nikaambiwa ni Tanil na nikapewa na wasifu wake wa kuhusika na deal ya rada, na akaniambia mbona nijambo la kawaida tuu kwa viongozi wetukwenda pale akanitajia wafuatao kuwa ni mwa geni wa mara kwa mara ofisini kwake kama si wa kilasiku nao ni Makamba, Kapten komba, Cisco Mtiro,TIBAIGANA

na rafikie mkuu ni MKUU WA MKOA WA DODOMA LUKUVI

wataonge mengi sana......

 

[Jamco_Za]

Ndo maana hawa wahindi wana nguvu sana maana wanajua wamewaonga sana viongozi wetu kwa pesa hizo hizo walizoiba kutoa kwa wananchi. Sasa na waseme au wanyamaze milele maana wakati umashafika.

 

[Kubwajinga]

Cha kushangaza ni kuwa, Serikali haijachukua hatua zozote kuhakikisha kuwa mali na pesa (Acc) za hawa wahusika vinazuiwa ili viweze kutumika kufidia hasara yoyote itakayotambulika uchunguzi na kesi vikikamilika.

Hivi wanania kweli ya kuzipata hizo pesa zilizopotea kwa kick-backs?



________________

 

[Tuandamane]

This is a call to MKAPA & CO.. We Tanzanians WANT OUR COUNTRY BACK

 

[Kite Munganga]

Lunyungu huezi kuamini mkuu kuyu jamaa siku moja nilipita karibu na ofisi yake niliyaona haya:

kiongozi mmoja yaelekea ni mkuu sana katika jeshi la wanachi (sikumjua jina) alikwenda pale na alitoka na mfuko wa malboro, sina hakika kama ilikuwa ni pesa, ila ramani ya mfuko ulijipinda mlundokano wa noti.na alikuwa na walinzi kama watatu hivi, (najuta na kusikitika kwa kutopiga picha na camera nilikuwa nayo-nilikuwa na haraka nawahi mahali)

nilimuliza mwenyeji wangu kwani huyo muhindi anilukwa ni nani ndo nikaambiwa ni Tanil na nikapewa na wasifu wake wa kuhusika na deal ya rada, na akaniambia mbona nijambo la kawaida tuu kwa viongozi wetukwenda pale akanitajia wafuatao kuwa ni mwa geni wa mara kwa mara ofisini kwake kama si wa kilasiku nao ni Makamba, Kapten komba, Cisco Mtiro,TIBAIGANA

na rafikie mkuu ni MKUU WA MKOA WA DODOMA LUKUVI

wataonge mengi sana......

UKIPATA LIKIZO POTEZA SIKU ZOTE KARIBU NA OFISI ZAKE TANIL NA UPATE PICHA NZURI AMBAYO ITAKUWA ZAWADI YETU WATANZANIA

 

[Kokolo]

Revealed:Vithlani to spill the beans on radar deal

-More heads expected to roll as radar agent seeks to avoid prosecution

THISDAY REPORTER
Dar es Salaam

CONTROVERSIAL radar agent Shailesh Vithlani is said to have cut a deal with British investigators to avoid criminal prosecution by spilling the beans on senior Tanzanian government officials who received illegal kickbacks to approve the dubious 2002 transaction.

THISDAY can now reveal that the fugitive businessman, wanted for multiple charges of perjury and lying to an investigating officer in Tanzania, has now offered to cooperate with UK detectives in exchange for his freedom.

According to well-informed sources, Vithlani - who initially denied receiving an illegal $12m (approx. 15bn/-) commission from the radar manufacturer BAE Systems � has notified investigators from Britain’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO) that he is now willing to admit his guilt, in part to avoid criminal prosecution.

’’It appears the SFO people have accepted Vithlani’s offer to cut a deal, and he has since been fully cooperating with the ongoing investigation,’’ the sources confirmed to THISDAY.

The agent of the 28 million pounds sterling (approx. 70bn/-) radar deal is believed to have used the illegal commission from BAE Systems to bribe a number of top Tanzanian politicians and senior officials in the third phase government of ex-president Benjamin Mkapa, and get them to approve the deal.

The sources say Vithlani, who grew up in Tanzania but holds a British passport, has agreed to break his silence on the deal in return for an amnesty from criminal prosecution and the possibility of serving a jail sentence.

It is understood that thanks to Vithlani’s cooperation, SFO investigators were recently able to discover the offshore bank accounts belonging to former attorney general and cabinet minister Andrew Chenge.

There are allegations that at least $1m of the funds traced to Chenge’s offshore bank accounts in Jersey, Britain originated from BAE Systems, the company that supplied the military radar system to the Tanzanian government through the controversial agent.

Although there is an international arrest warrant out for Vithlani, he is reported to be living quite comfortably in Switzerland while continuing to cooperate with the British investigators over the radar deal.

’’The investigators are keen to get more information from him on illegal conduct by BAE Systems in connection with the transaction�including possible outright corruption,’’ the sources told THISDAY.

They added: ’’If Vithlani does go ahead and reveal all he knows about the radar transaction and all those who were involved in it, we could very well witness more high-profile casualties in government.’’

Chenge was recently forced to resign as infrastructure development minister after being implicated in the radar deal, which was concluded during his tenure as the country’s attorney general.

He was effectively the first ’casualty’ of the ongoing investigation.

However, it is understood that with Vithlani’s help, investigators are now expecting to expose the involvement in this particular corruption scandal of other prominent government officials from the Mkapa era.

According to THISDAY findings, the team of British and American lawyers hired by Chenge to defend him against the radar corruption allegations have already gone to some length to apportion blame on other government departments.

Maintaining that their client was not involved in the deal, the lawyers have hinted in writing that the then ministry for communications and transport and ministry for defence and national service were the chief promoters of the deal.

 

[Kapinga]

Mkapa mbona hajitokezi akasema kama huyu hata kwa kukataa tu.

coz he is not an idiot like the others...ukimya wake ndo utawafanya wanaomsaka kutolala usiku...

 

[think BIG]

Cha kushangaza ni kuwa, Serikali haijachukua hatua zozote kuhakikisha kuwa mali na pesa (Acc) za hawa wahusika vinazuiwa ili viweze kutumika kufidia hasara yoyote itakayotambulika uchunguzi na kesi vikikamilika.

Hey KJ, naomba nikupeleke pole pole, nukuu ya Mh. Mizengo Pinda (09 Apr 2008):

"Watu waliochukua fedha zaidi ya Sh46 bilioni ukiwapeleka mahakamani wanaweza kushinda kesi na hivyo hata fedha zisirudi, kwa maoni yangu naona njia inayotumika hivi sasa ni njia bora na inayowezesha kufanikisha mkakati huo wa kurudisha fedha hizo. Kama kuna umuhimu wa kwenda mahakamani fedha hizo zinaweza kutumika kama ushahidi".

Suala la kwanza serikali haioni umuhimu wa kwenda mahakamani (ina maana wameridhika kudhulumiwa). Pili hata inapotokea wamepata ushahidi wote wa kuwashtaki hawa "matajiri" bado wanaogopa kwenda mahakamani kwani wanaweza kushindwa!!!

sasa leo hii unataka "serikali" wa-block acc za hawa "matajiri" ambao hata serikali yako inawaogopa unatarajia nini? Tutashindwa kesi na tutalazimika kuwalipa zaidi ya hiyo tuliyokuwa tunawadai!

Labda kwanza tumuombe Mh. Pinda aifute hii kauli ili tuendelee na hayo mawazo yako.

 

[Gaijin]

at the end of the day, hashitakiwi wala kufilisiwa mtu...
so sad!

 

[Kipanga]

Wandugu ukisikia kikulacho ki nguoni mwako ndio haya sasa yanaanza kufumuka na hawa magabachori kama tungewabana vizuri wana mambo kibao wanayajua na akina nani wameshiriki kwenye ma-deal mbali mbali e.g radar, ndege, EPA etc.

Tunarudi kule kule tulikoondolewa na Azimio la Arusha kisa ulafi tu wa watu wachache....

Sometimes huwa namkubali Mtikira kuwa hili linchi magabachori ndio wanalitafuna utadhani manyani kwenye shamba la mahindi na walaaniwe wote.....

Tutawakamua tu na watasema mmoja mmoja!!!! Majambawazi kabisa.

 

[August]

Naona wadosi wanawatosa wazeee wa Sirikali?
Na hawa wakikupa rushwa sometimes wana kurekodi kwa cctv ili siku ya siku wawe na pakutokea au inakuwepo trail ya cheque.

 

[Hongasuta]

Nina hasira sana na Wahindi mafisadi wanaoliangamiza taifa letu. Hapa najua waandishi wa mafisadi kama akina Manyerere, na viongozi walionunuliwa kwa 1m/- kama Lipumba, watasema naingiza 'ubaguzi wa rangi'. La hasha, nina marafiki zangu wengi tu Wahindi safi ambao nao wanawachukia mafisadi.