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Richmond saga report soon ready for debate - Speaker
2008-01-03 09:11:45
By Hannah Mwandoloma
The Speaker of the National Assembly, Samuel Sitta, yesterday received the report on investigations of the Richmond contract yesterday in Dar es Salaam.
He said the august House would probably discuss it in the next parliamentary session scheduled to start in Dodoma at the end of this month.
Samuel Sitta, who addressed a news conference in Dar es Salaam shortly after getting hold of the report, said the House would discuss the findings only after a parliamentary services steering committee, which would peruse the contents, had completed its work on or before the session was over.
The steering committee will be chaired by the Speaker himself.
The deputy speaker will serve as vice-chair while the clerk of the National Assembly will act as secretary.
Other members are chairpersons of parliamentary standing committees.
The special parliamentary probe committee formed by the Speaker at the end of last year to investigate controversial Richmond Development Corporation power generation contract completed the assignment on December 31, last year.
Sitta said he would hand over the document to the House services steering committee which would decide the exact date of tabling the report.
The Speaker commended the probe committee under the chairmanship of Kyela legislator Dr Harrison Mwakyembe, saying they took a lot of pain to interview the witnesses and had even travelled to Houston, Texas in the US to question the alleged owners of the firm.
Sitta promised that the findings would be secure in his hands, and he would forward them to the steering committee which was mandated to reveal the contents.
Briefing the Speaker, the chairman of the probe team, Harrison Mwakyembe, said they had questioned 75 people, and seven were recalled after giving contradictory information.
Only four witnesses had volunteered to give information while the rest were summoned to appear before the commission.
On those who were recalled, Dr Mwakyembe said: ``What they wrote contradicted what they said. Some have apologized for lying.``
The team was tasked to investigate the contentious 172.9bn/- Richmond power generation deal.
Other members of the probe team were Lucas Selelii (Nzega-CCM), Herbert Mntangi (Muheza-CCM), Stella Manyanya (Special Seats-CCM) and Mohamed Mnyaa (Mkanyageni-CUF).
The committee began its investigations on November 15, last year.
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