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Karamagi in hot soup over TICTS contract approval claims
2008-04-26 09:52:36
By Judica Tarimo, Dodoma
Speaker of the National Assembly Samwel Sitta yesterday gave a seven-day ultimatum to Bukoba Rural MP Nazir Karamagi to submit evidence to prove that the controversial TICTS contract extension was endorsed by the cabinet.
According to the Speaker, failure to do so Karamagi, a former minister for Energy and Minerals, would face disciplinary action for lying to the House.
This development emerged from a private motion tabled by Mbozi-East legislator Godfrey Zambi (CCM) questioning the performance of Tanzania International Container Terminal Services (TICTS) and the premature extension to 25 years of its earlier contract which was yet to expire. He maintained that the contract extension was both null and void.
Karamagi was the second MP lined up to contribute to the motion after Opposition MP Wilbrod Slaa (Chadema).
The drama on Wednesday evening started when Karamagi rose and declared his interest in TICTS before contributing to the motion.
Before he went ahead, the Speaker interjected and asked him to specify, in accordance with parliamentary regulations, the value of his interest in the company.
``I am the owner of Harbours Investment Company which has 30 per cent shares in TICTS,`` replied Karamagi.
In what was openly seen as opposition to the motion, the legislator rejected claims that the contract was corruptly and unlawfully extended.
``The contract was approved by the then cabinet under former president Benjamin Makapa,`` Karamagi maintained.
It is at this juncture that Anna Abdallah (Special Seats, CCM) chipped in and asked the Speaker to ask Karamagi to provide evidence to prove that the TICTS contract extension was approved by the cabinet.
``The legislator must prove to the House how he knew that the cabinet had approved the contract while he was not a cabinet minister at that time,`` Ms Abdallah said.
After the Speaker had asked Karamagi to provide evidence to prove his claims, the legislator stood up and said: ``Honourable Speaker, I am certain that the contract was approved by the cabinet because during negotiations between TICTS and officials of the Parastatal Sector Reform Commission (PSRC), the latter informed us that they had the blessing of the cabinet.``
The Speaker then gave Karamagi until Friday to submit the evidence to support his claims, failure to which parliamentary regulations would be applied to penalize him.
Yesterday, the Speaker informed the House that the MP had failed to submit the evidence, but simply alluded to having got hold of some references to the alleged cabinet approval owing to strict confidetiality surrounding such documents.
The Speaker then decided to extend the time and gave the legislator one week to allow him secure the evidence on the said cabinet approval.
``I am giving you seven days to submit substantial evidence, failure to which the case will be forwarded to the Parliamentary Rights, Ethics and Powers Committee,`` Sitta said.
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