|
Prof.Mahalu and another`s corruption case stalls
2007-08-25 09:23:13
By Rosemary Mirondo
Hearing of the corruption case facing Tanzania`s former envoy to Italy Prof. Costa Ricky Mahalu and another person who are charged in Kisutu Resident Magistrate\'s Court with causing loss of Euro 2,065,837.60 to the government, has hit a stalmate.
The continued hearing pendency has been imputed on what has been described as the dreadful need to have the application challenging the controversial bail grant determined first by the High Court of Tanzania.
Principal Resident Magistrate Sivangilwa Mwangesi yesterday said the Court could not start hearing of the case in the absence of the original file which is still in the custody of the High Court.
`We cannot have two files of the same case; we ought to be patient and await the High Court\'s decision before hearing begins,`` he said. The case was adjourned to September 26 this year.
The trial magistrate`s order contravened with an earlier order entered during the last mention by Resident Magistrate Said Msuya. Msuya had announced that preliminary hearing would start on August 21 this year.
During that sesssion the Court`s announcement to that effect was precipitated by the prosecution`s request for adjournment simply because the original file had been delivered to the High Court for further orders. Earlier, PCCB\'s official Tabu Mzee had made the adjournment request.
Magistrate Msuya had observed that the case filed in the High Court was a matter of bail whereas the main case was lodged in Kisutu Resident Magistrate`s Court.
It was his considered view that no good cause under the law could be served in hindering proceedings in the main case from taking place.
``The High Court can go on with the issue of bail consideration as the original case continues to be heard in Kisutu Resident Magistrate Court,`` he had said.
Prof. Mahalu and Grace Alfred Martin were arraigned for allegedly conspiring and stealing from the United Republic of Tanzania on diverse dates and places in the world.
The accused face a second count in which they are accused of using payment voucher no. D2/9 dated September 23, 2002 which contained false material purporting to show that the purchase price of the Tanzanian embassy building in Rome was Euro 3,098,741.58, while knowing that it was false information intended to mislead their principal.
In the third count, the accused were charged with using sales contract containing false material which purported to show that the purchase price of the Tanzanian Embassy building in Rome was Euro 3,098,741.58, while knowing that it was false information. The offence is alleged to have been committed on October 1, 2002.
In the forth count, it was alleged that on the same date and place, with intent to deceive their principal, the accused used sales receipt obtained on October 1, 2002 which purported to show that the vendor of the Tanzanian Embassy building in Rome received Euro 3, 098,741.58 as purchase price for the building, while knowing only too well that the information was false.
In the last count, it was alleged that the accused on the same date and place stole Euro 2,065,827.60, which willful act and misconduct caused the government of Tanzania to suffer a pecuniary loss. The case was adjourned to September 26 this year.
|
