Local News

3.5bn/- foreign ministry scam probed

Mr Bernard Membe

THE government has formed a committee to probe and establish any irregularities in transacting 3.5bn/- from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation account three months ago.   

A section of media reported last week that there was an attempt to withdraw the said amount from the ministry under dubious circumstances. Several officers had since been suspended allegedly for their involvement in the scam. 

The Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, , admitted in Dar es Salaam on Monday that the monies were processed in the absence of all the ministry’s signatories.

He said that the ministry officials who were acting in various posts had processed the monies in collaboration with the Treasury and that the monies were intended to meet expenses for three official trips by President Jakaya Kikwete.

“Me, my deputy, the Permanent Secretary, his deputy and the Chief Accountant were not in office when the officers who were acting decided to process the monies from Treasury,” he said.

Mr Membe noted that the monies were intended to cover costs of President Kikwete’s trips to Addis Ababa - Ethiopia, Geneva, Switzerland and Arusha. 

He added that the monies were processed on March 1, this year. Of the said amount, 2bn/- was received in cash by the ministry while the rest was deposited in its account. “I am glad to say that at the moment all the monies are safe in our account although we have to carry out an investigation to see whether proper procedures were adhered to,” he said.

Mr Membe noted that the investigation team is made up by officers from the ministry’s internal audit, the Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau (PCCB) and the country’s intelligence services.

“It is a shocking move but no one is accused so far because this was an inter-ministerial thing which needs investigation first, but we will make public the report on this saga when the investigation is done,” he said. Mr Membe declined to mention names but it has been reported in the media that several officers had been suspended from their duties to facilitate investigations.