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Balali controversy still leaves many questions unanswered
2007-07-17 10:16:41
By Emmanuel Hayuka
The emergence of allegations of corruption, embezzlement of public funds and abuse of office against the Bank of Tanzania Governor Dr.Daudi Balali first came to the attention of the Parliament and the nation at large after member of parliament for Karatu constituency Dr.Wilbrod Slaa informed the legislature about the existence of the message posted on the internet and was circulating throughout the country.
The message accuses the Bank of Tanzania Governor, Dr.Daudi Balali of involvement in numerous serious and shocking scandals such as corruption, embezzlement of public funds and abuse of office to mention but a few.
``We would like the Minister of Finance to explain if the BoT Governor was indeed involved, because Meghji has been quoted saying that the International Monetary Fund wants the BoT Foreign Debt Service Account to be investigated.``Dr.Slaa told the parliament.
Some of the allegations against the governor include the disappearance of millions of US dollars from the Central Bank`s External Debt Service Account and the inflated construction costs of BoT Twin Towers which is said to have cost about US $340m, approximately Tsh.425bn of Tanzanian taxpayers` money.
The amount entails that the construction cost of the BoT Twin Towers headquarters building is US $8,628 per square metre, which is four times more than the cost of building a similar building in London, New York or Tokyo which are regarded as among the expensive cities in terms of construction costs in the world.
Dr.Slaa further challenged Parliament to form independent committee to investigate the scandal, a call that was supported by many MPs from the opposition parties and some from the ruling party,
``It is unacceptable for members of parliament to wait for the IMF investigations. We demand an explanation now on how that money was squandered.``
Unexpectedly, the scandal took on a new face when the Member of Parliament for Kwera constituency Dr.Chrisant Mzindakaya was also implicated.
Dr.Mzindakaya however seemly downplayed the accusations on the basis that the information about the scandal had been obtained from the internet, which he said was unreliable.
He even went to the extent of ridiculing Dr.Slaa, that he has not done a thorough research on the matter.
In his reply Dr.Slaa accused Dr.Mzindakaya of protecting the BoT governor because the latter had provided the guarantee of TSh 9.7billion to repay the loan which he borrowed from the Standard Charter Bank.
He added that Dr.Mzindakaya’s statements were ment to defend the governor as some form of gratification for the assistance he had been rendered.
Consequently, Dr.Mzindakaya denied any wrongdoing and was cleared by the minister of finance who insisted that he obtained the loan guarantee in accordance with the rules and regulations governing export guarantee scheme.
In his response to the allegations Prime Minister Edward Lowassa, stated that `` there is no need to form a parliamentary committee to investigate the accusations of corruption, embezzlement of public funds and abuse of office against the Governor of the BoT because the government has the institutions which could carry out the investigations together with a foreign Auditing Firm...``
He further stated that the government was concerned by the report of corruption and embezzlement of public funds against the Bank of Tanzania Governor and thus has directed the Controller and Auditor General to investigate the matter.
Despite the Prime Minister`s assurance that the matter is still being investigated various sections of the community seem not to be contented with government assurance.
Interestingly, the matter resurfaced late last week with the announcement that Dr.Balali would conduct a press conference that would focus on the state of the economy.
Many expected Dr.Balali to use the opportunity not only to talk about the state of the economy especially the fear of increase of inflation and the continuing depreciation of Tanzania shillings against the US dollar, but also to clear accusations leveled against him.
When asked about his involvement in the scandal by members of the press, he categorically stressed that, ``all the accusations posted on the internet against me are lies that have been spread by the people who are fighting over something.``
The document has been posted in internet by the unpatriotic people insisting that those allegations were untrue.
Dr.Balali revealed that ``there are some businessmen who want to borrow money, and when they are required to repay their loan they create enmity``.
But when asked about the costs of building the BoT Twin Towers, he said that the matter was still being investigated adding that such allegations had dragged on for over twenty years, they are not new and existed ever since the commencement of the project during the tenure of his predecessors, namely Charles Nyirabu, Gilman Rutihinda and Dr.Idris Rashid.
The President ordered the investigations, which was conducted by numerous law enforcement agents such as Criminal Investigation Department, National Intelligence and the Prevention of Corruption Bureau and found that they are not true and ultimately the government allowed the project to continue.
Regarding the demand made by the opposition parties that he steps down from office so as to pave the way for independent investigations, Dr.Balali told the press conference that, ``I can not step-down from the office due to this baseless accusations, there must be the substance for me to resign.``
Dr.Balali went on to say that, he was very comfortable and that the corruption, embezzlement of public funds and abuse of office accusations leveled against me have not in any way affected him psychologically.
Frankly speaking, Dr.Balali’s response to the accusations against him have left many questions unanswered but it would be wrong to be conclusive as investigations are still on going.
There are still various unclarified issues that still continue to puzzle the public. For instance Dr.Balali failed to give the cost of constructing the BoT Twin Towers, saying that the valuation of the cost is still going on. The question is how the government can engage in such huge project without knowing its costs.
Furthermore, the above mentioned dissatisfaction can be reflected on the reactions of some people from various sectors of the society, particularly politicians and human rights activitists.
``What do you think, if any person is accused of committing a crime would say? Even if he is brought before the court he would deny the charges he faced, according to the accusations he (Dr.Balali) is facing he has not answered any charge.``Dr.Slaa, told a local Kiswahili tabloid newspaper.
Tanzania Labour Party (TLP) chairman Mr. Augustine Mrema is quoted as having said that the courage of the BoT governor emanates from the sins of embezzlement and corruption among the leaders in the government.
``There is no person who can hold Dr.Balali responsible because all of them are corrupt…the BoT governor is just the symbol of sins of our rulers,`` said Mrema.
Tanzania Gender Networking Programme (TGNP) Advocacy Officer, Gemma Akilimali, when addressing the press on 13th July 2007 said that,`` how is it possible that the BoT governor who is facing these accusations has refused to resign while a person who revealed the information has been sacked.``
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