PRESS SUMMARIES 24 DECEMBER 2014 Maswi out pending probe Energy and Minerals Permanent Secretary Eliakim Maswi was suspended yesterday. Chief Secretary Ombeni Sefue said Mr Maswi, who has been under pressure to resign over the Tegeta escrow scandal, would vacate office to pave the way for an investigations into his role in the matter. The Directorate of Presidential Communications said in a statement last night that the PS was asked to leave yesterday and hand over to his deputy, Mr Ngosi Mwihava. The statement said that Mr Sefue has suspended Mr Maswi in line with the powers bestowed on him to discipline public servants who are presidential appointees, including permanent secretaries. The Chief Secretary said Mr Mwihava will act until the outcome of the investigation is known. He reiterated the directive on Monday by President Kikwete that disciplinary action would be taken against the former PS should he be found to have erred. Mr Maswi now joins former Attorney General Judge Frederick Werema and sacked Lands minister Anna Tibaijuka as early casualties of the scandal. President Kikwete fired the minister on Monday during an address to the nation while Mr Werema resigned last week. The three and Energy minister Sospeter Muhongo have been under attack from the public after they were adversely implicated in the scandal. The Tegeta escrow scandal involved the fraudulent withdrawal of Sh306 billion from the central bank to pay Independent Power Tanzania Limited (IPTL). The money, part of which a parliamentary investigation found to be public, was then shared among public figures and influential individuals. Meanwhile, legal experts were emphatic yesterday that President Kikwete has full constitutional powers to initiate investigations, control of discipline and removal of Judges from office without undermining the powers of the Judiciary. On Monday, the President side-stepped a resolution of parliament to form a Judicial Commission of Inquiry to investigate High Court Judges mentioned in the scandal and instead referred the matter to the Chief Justice. Mr Kikwete argued the powers to investigate them could not come from the executive or Parliament. High Court judges Aloysius Mujulusi and John Ruhangisa were accused of receiving Sh40m and Sh400m, respectively, from a former IPTL shareholder, Mr James Rugemalira. According to Section 113 (2), of the Constitution, the powers of appointment, control of discipline and removal of Judges from office shall vest in the President. (All Media) TZ slips in rankings on prosperity The country performed poorly in terms of personal freedom, where it fell from position 24th to 28th Tanzania has dropped eight positions in the list of Africa’s most prosperous countries. According to new research released by the UK based Legatum Institute, Tanzania has been ranked number 19 out of 38 surveyed African countries. In 2012, the country was ranked 11. It also ranked 117 out of 142 surveyed countries considered for the Index include infrastructure, good governance and business climate. Others include adequate health care, education, personal freedom, safety and security issues as well as entrepreneurship and opportunities. The research shows that the country performed poorly in terms of personal freedom, where it fell from position 24th to 28th. It also recorded poor performance on safety and security where it ranked 23rd out of 38. Tanzania’s poor showing was also due to a drop in five year average growth, increase in inflation coupled with a decline in confidence in financial institutions and falling satisfaction with living standards. The report indicates that Tanzania’s education score rose by one place from position 19 to 18, with little impact on the people. The report argues that Tanzania needs to improve the quality of education in schools rather than focus on enrolment rates that have been in an upswing for decade now. Part of the report reads that Tanzanian education is not producing graduates with the skills needed to work in the formal sector. It added that the lack of an adequately skilled workforce was a hindrance to investment in sectors such as manufacturing, construction, mining, agriculture, finance and communications. (The Citizen et al) Tanzania arrests Kenyan suspected of big-scale ivory smuggling Tanzania has arrested a Kenyan businessman suspected of trafficking ivory and other big-game trophies, police said on Tuesday. Feisal Mohamed Ali (47) was arrested in Dar es Salaam on Monday on a warrant issued by Interpol which is trying to track down armed gangs that kill elephants for tusks and rhinos for horns to be shipped to Asia for use in ornaments and medicines. Gustav Babile, head of Interpol in Tanzania, told Reuters that the businessman is cooperating with the police to establish if he is involved in the alleged criminal activities. He added that investigations were still ongoing. Police suspect that Ali, from Kenya’s port city of Mombasa, is behind an international ivory poaching syndicate linked to a 3-tonne haul of elephant tusks seized in Mombasa in June. Poaching has risen in recent years across Africa. In Tanzania, 10,000 elephants were killed last year alone, according to the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA), a London-based conservation group. With the biggest world source for illegal ivory Tanzania lost more elephants to poaching between 2009 and 2013 than any other country in Africa some 10,000 slaughtered there in 2013 alone. In the vast Selous Game Reserve, a renowned bastion for animals of the African savanna, two-thirds of the elephants have been killed. (BBC, et al) International News Rebels kill dozens in Indias Assam state India has imposed a curfew in parts of the northeastern state of Assam after suspected tribal guerrillas killed at least 50 people in a series of attacks in retaliation for an offensive against them. Assam has a history of sectarian bloodshed and groups fighting for greater autonomy or secession from India. Tuesdays attacks in four places by fighters of the outlawed National Democratic Front of Bodoland within the space of an hour were the deadliest in months. Indian security forces launched a campaign last month against the rebels in their remote hideouts, prompting a threat from them to target settlers. Reports said the attackers opened indiscriminate fire at Saralpara village in Kokrajhar district and in Santipur village of Sonitpur district. The attacks came after a joint team of Assam Police and the Indian army killed two Bodo fighters in the neighbouring Chiran district on Sunday. Villagers told police the rebels came on foot, armed with assault rifles and wearing military uniforms. The police officer said that they didnt even spare women and children, adding there were at least 10 women among the dead in Tuesdays violence. At least 13 children were killed. Some members of the Bodo community say their identity, culture and language are under threat of being overrun and the only way they can preserve it is through self-governance. The rebels say they are fighting for a separate homeland for the indigenous Bodo people. They complain that the tea-growing state has been flooded with outsiders. Police Inspector-General SN Singh said in Guwahati, Assams capital city, that additional forces were being sent in to chase down the attackers. He said villagers at risk would be evacuated to safer places. Lalit Gogoi, deputy commissioner of the worst-affected Sonitpur district, said the army had been put on standby and a dusk to dawn curfew imposed. The single hospital in Sonitpur was crowded with scores of people with bullet wounds. (Al Jazeera et al) Tanzanias Kikwete sacks Tibaijuka amid corruption row Tanzanias President Jakaya Kikwete has fired a senior government minister accused of wrongly taking $1m from a businessman He said that Land and Housing Minister Anna Tibaijuka had not shown due diligence when she took the money. Ms Tibaijuka, a former UN official, denies any wrongdoing. She is a high-profile casualty in a corruption scandal that has rocked Tanzanias government and energy firms, straining relations with donors. On 17 December, Attorney-General Frederick Werema resigned after MPs accused him of authorizing the fraudulent transfer of about $120m to an energy firm. He denied the allegation, but said he was stepping down because the controversy had disrupted the countrys political atmosphere. Mr Kikwete, in a televised address, said the government was still investigating allegations of impropriety against Energy and Minerals Minister Sospeter Muhongo and his permanent secretary Eliakim Maswi.The presidents office later said that Mr Maswi had been suspended, pending the outcome of the probe. Ms Tibaijuka rejected parliaments call for her resignation, saying the $1m was a donation for a school where she serves as the main fundraiser. She said that she accepted it in good faith and presented it to the school. However, Mr Kikwete said he had dismissed her because one of the biggest questions raised is why this money was not paid directly to the school and was instead deposited in a personal bank account in her name. Ms Tibaijuka was the executive director of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme, before she became an MP and government minister in 2010.Tanzanias parliament, which is dominated by the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) party, has been putting pressure on Mr Kikwete to sack top officials accused of siphoning government money in collusion with businessmen linked to the energy sector. An investigation by a parliamentary watchdog committee found that about $120m had been taken from an escrow account, paid to an energy firm and then given to various government ministers. A group of 12 donors - including Japan, the UK, the World Bank and the African Development Bank - decided in October to withhold about $490m until the government took action over the alleged corruption. Mr Kikwete took office in 2005 with a promise to tackle corruption in government. (BBC, Xinhua, Reuters, et al)
Posted on: Wed, 24 Dec 2014 08:15:30 +0000
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