Civil service audit reveals 2,500 'ghost' workers

Mwanza, Arusha and Singida are the regions with the highest number of government ‘ghost’ workers, according to reports submitted to the central government as part of a national civil service audit aimed at pruning the state payroll.

 

The reports prepared by regional commissioners across the country and delivered to the Minister of State in the President’s Office (Local Governments and Regional Administration), George Simbachawene, show that there are over 2,500 ghost civil servants in Tanzania Mainland alone.

 

The regional breakdown shows Mwanza with the highest figure (334), followed by Arusha with 270 and Singida with 231 non-existent but paid government employees, respectively.

TMA: Expect pounding rains soon

 

There will be extremely heavy, short-term downpours in the first week of April, Tanzania Meteorological Agency (TMA) said yesterday.

 

TMA Director Dr Agnes Kijazi made the warning when speaking to journalists on the sideline of the two-day workers meeting held in Dar es Salaam. She said this year there will be heavy rains, but short with high possibilities of causing damage.

 

The director further said heavy downpours are expected to come after a long period of drought and hot temperatures. She cautioned the general public to heed to weather updates information issued by the agency.

Tax collection above TRA target in Kagera

 

The Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA) in Kagera  Region has surpassed its revenue collection target for the period between July last year and February this year by collecting 24.5bn/- instead of 21.1bn/-.

 

Speaking to journalists here yesterday, TRA Regional Manager Adam Ntoga said that the revenue was collected from custom duties and levies that helped the tax watchdog to surpass its target by  110.6 percent.

 

“We aimed to collect 11.5bn/- from levies but we managed to get 12.3bn/- equivalent to 106.7 percent, while we obtained 12.2bn/- from custom duties equivalent to 114.84 percent instead of 10.6bn/-,” Ntonga said.

Mob kills suspected gangster for 'stealing' more than 1m/-

 

 A man in Tarime District, Mara Region  was murdered by an angry mob after he was caught allegedly stealing assorted items from a shop worth more than 1m/-.

During the night of March 29, Mseti  Waitara (32) of Bikongwe sub-village in Nyankoni village, Itiryo ward was allegedly stealing goods from a shop owned by Nchagwa Chaegere.

 

Regional Police Commander (RPC) for Tarime/Rorya Special Police Zone, ACP Andrew Satta, said three other suspects were arrested by police in collaboration with people in the area.

 

He said on the fateful night a group of people suspected to be gangsters armed with firearms, and traditional weapons stormed into a shop of Nchagwa Chegere, and managed to steal items worth 1,145,600/-.

Isles House of Reps picks Maulid as new speaker

 

Zanzibar House of Representatives yesterday elected Zubeir Ali Maulid from Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) as the fourth speaker in the absence of opposition parties which boycotted to contend for the post.

 

For the first time since the reintroduction of multiparty system, an all CCM House of Representatives convened here after the party won all the 54 constituencies of Unguja and Pemba Island in a poll re-run which was boycotted by the main opposition Civic United Front (CUF).

 

Maulid who defeated long serving former House Speaker, Pandu Ameir Kificho in the party’s election becomes the fourth speaker since its establishment in 1995. Maulid won the seat unopposed as no member from the opposition party had picked the candidacy form to contend the post

Mulongo serves 3-week notice to illegal gun owners to surrender arms

 

Authorities in Mara Region have issued a three- week ultimatum to people who own firearms illegally in the area to surrender them to the police or government before a special crackdown is conducted to arrest those who will have defied the order.

 

Mara Regional Commissioner Magesa Mulongo warned that people who would disobey the order would be arrested during the crackdown and brought before security organs.

 

Mulongo issued the order on Tuesday during a meeting with district leaders from Mara Region and regional consultative committee members in Bunda district. 

 

Mulongo said those who will heed the order will not be penalised.

The RPC also called upon people who own firearms illegally to surrender them to the police for verification of their ownership.

 

Mulongo, however, directed law enforcers to confiscate all fireamems being misused even if they are legally owned.

 

He said after the expiry of the ultimatum, the RC in collaboration with the Judiciary, would issue an order for the arrest of all people who own the weapons illegally.

 

 “I am giving three weeks to people who own the weapons illegally to surrender them immediately to police before the special crackdown after the expiry of the ultimatum,” he said.

 

He also said that the police were aware of the people who owned firearms legally but who gave their relatives to use them in conducting crime.

Mulongo said the exercise was aimed at curbing crimes, especially armed robbery, in the region.

 

He directed the law enforcers to ensure that all criminals were arrested and were cooperating with citizens to reveal more perpetrators of crime because they lived with them as members of their communities.

 

Meanwhile, RC Mulongo said that verification conducted on public servants in the region has discovered 84 ghost workers who were paid 105m/- as salaries in a period of one month.

 

He said Bunda District was leading with having 35 ghost workers noting that Butiama and Bunda Town Councils had no ghost workers.

 

Mulongo said  other six ghost workers were discovered at Bunda District Designated Hospital some of which had died.

 

He said that he issued a preliminary report on the exercise and the work was underway to discover more ghost workers.

US envoy hails veteran journo Ntetema as she clinches major global award

 

US Ambassador to Tanzania Mark Childress yesterday commended Vicky Ntetema, the executive director of Under the Same Sun Tanzania, upon her receipt Tuesday in Washington of the Department of State’s 2016 International Women of Courage Award. 

 

“We at the US Mission in Tanzania were incredibly proud to see Ntetema stand with the thirteen other women from around the world who received the award, and especially to see them honored by Secretary of State John Kerry and Vice President Joe Biden,” the US envoy said.

 

He added: “I have long been aware of Ntetema’s advocacy and when I met her last week I was struck by her conviction as she described the challenges faced by people with albinism. I’m impressed by her achievements.

Police arrest 6 Ethiopian migrants en route to South Africa

 

 Police in Morogoro Region have arrested six Ethiopian nationals for illegal entry as well as two women suspected to have engaged in illicit drug trafficking.

 

Morogoro Regional Police Commander Ulrich Onesphory Matei said in the first incident, the Ethiopian nationals were arrested at Sangasanga area, a few kilometres from Morogoro Municipality along the Morogoro-Iringa highway.

He said they were found getting into Tanzania without proper travel documents while travelling to South Africa to seek greener pastures.

 

RPC Matei said they were arrested on March 27, this year, at around 6 AM local time in Sangasanga Village of Mlali Division on the outskirts of Morogoro Municipality.

Minister orders local authorities to end plot disputes

 

Local  authorities which allocated land to multiple owners will have to survey new plots and give all victims of duplicity land of the same size and value they paid for, the government ordered yesterday. 

 

Minister for Land, Housing and Human Settlement Development, William Lukuvi gave the order in Dar es Salaam yesterday after the Parliamentary Committee on Land, Tourism and Natural Resources visited the ministry’s customer service centre.

 

Lukuvi directed local government authorities to ensure that all people who have been affected with multiple plots allocation be given back their plots.

Over 100 Mwanza medical students confront minister over massive failure rates

 A TOTAL of 110 students from Mwanza-based Tandabuhi Institute of Health Sciences and Technology yesterday marched to the Ministry of Health, Community Development, Gender, Elderly and Children to protest against some senior officials in the ministry, who allegedly failed 162 students at their university.

 

According to the students, the officials were among the “boils” that should have been emptied.

 

“We have asked the minister to take action against these officials who have failed us...it is impossible for 164 students to sit for examinations and 162 (98.78 Per cent) of them fail, while only two have passed,” said Juma Mramba, one of the students, who were waiting outside the head office of the Ministry of Health, Community Development, Gender, Elderly and Children in Dar es Salaam.

 

Presenting their complaints before the deputy minister, Dr Khamis Kigwangwala, the students, who had completed the second year of Clinical Officer course (NTA Level 5) and sat for their examinations on February 24, 2016, said: “We don’t trust the results we were given by the chief external examiner, Dr Saitore Laizer.”

Parliamentary team appeals for sufficient DART Agency funding

 

 A Parliamentary Committee on Administration and Local Government has expressed dissatisfaction over the amount of money given to the Dar es Salaam Rapid Transit (DART) Agency.

 

According to the Committee’s chairperson Jasson Rweikiza the money cannot guarantee the agency to carry out its duties according to laid out plans.

 

 He was talking to journalists after committee members toured the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) infrastructure and received a DART Agency report.  “We have realised that you don’t get the amount of money being endorsed by the House, a situation which hampers you from rolling out your development projects as required,” Rweikiza said.  

Public urged to assist cancer patients - TBS

 

Communities have been challenged to cultivate a culture of helping patients admitted in various hospitals as a way of comforting them. 

 

This was said over the weekend in Dar es Salaam by the Director of Testing and Calibration Services at Tanzania Bureau of Standards (TBS), Agnes Mneney when handing over various items to patients admitted at Ocean Road Cancer Institute (ORCI).

 

She said items donated to each  patient included  bottled water, juice, washing soap, pampers, drugs and bus fare to some of the discharged patients all worth 2.9m/-.

 

Lowassa pleads with the public to maintain peace

 

 Former Prime Minister Edward Lowassa (pictured) yesterday called on the public remain calm through the difficult political times the country is going through following the farcical election re-run in Zanzibar and urged them to maintain peace and tranquility in the country.

 

He made the call at the Azania Front Evangelical Lutheran Church in Dar es Salaam where he attended Easter Monday mass and used the occasion for thanksgiving prayers.

 

Lowassa, who moved to the opposition and vied for the Union presidency in last year’s general elections via Chama cha Demokrasia na Maendeleo (CHADEMA) said preserving peace is the only means of avoiding unnecessary disputes. 

   

Govt official, contractor imprisoned for economic sabotage

 A former accountant in the Ministry of Home Affairs, Fire Brigade Department, Naamini Sangiwa, and a contractor who is also the director of Kiareni Investment Ltd, Webu Masawe, have been slapped with sentences for economic sabotage at the Ilala District Court.

 

The accused were facing seven counts including abuse of position, uttering false documents and lying contrary to section 22 and 32 of PCCB; forgery contrary to section 333,335 (d) (1), and 3337 of Penal Code chapter 16; and causing loss to the government. 

 

In 2009, the government issued tender for fence construction at the Fire Brigade College located at Mbopo Bunju within Kinondoni District in Dar es Salaam whereby Kiareni Investment Ltd won it and paid 81,963,360/-.

 

A competitive bidding procedure was not followed and Kiareni Investment Ltd which won the tender spent only 13,784,652/- of all the amount of money paid.  

The charges against all the three accused, who appeared before the court in 2014, were read by Resident Magistrate Juma Hassan.

 

One of the accused, Dotto Mgogo, who was acting head of Training for Ministry of Home Affairs, Fire Brigade department, died in 2014 after the charges against him were read and thus they ended then.

 

Sangiwa was charged with two offences of abuse of position, forgery and occasioning loss to the government.

 

In the offences of abuse of position, the accused Sangiwa has sentenced to pay a fine of 300,000/- for each offence failure which he would to go jail for six months while in the offence of forgery the accused was ordered not to commit any criminal offence for one year.

 

The accused Masawe, who was facing only charges of occasioning loss to the government, was sentenced to three years imprisonment and ordered to pay 67,913,748/- as a compensation of the loss he caused to the government.

President Magufuli to cut his salary?

 

The government plans to cut the salaries of the highest paid public sector workers, President John Magufuli said yesterday, revealing that no less than 1,680 "ghost workers" were uncovered on the state payroll in just the first two days of a national audit.

 

"Government employees who are paid the highest salaries of up to 40 million/- (per month) will face a pay cut and a maximum salary cap of 15 million/- will be enforced," State House quoted Magufuli as saying in a statement late yesterday.

 

This effectively means that the president’s own salary is likely to be cut since the position comes with a hefty pay package. Although official figures are hard to come by, one member of parliament has publicly claimed that the Tanzanian president is paid a salary of over 30 million/- per month, which would be slashed by over 50 percent if the plan goes ahead.

IMF backs Magufuli's anti-CORRUPTION CRUSADE

 
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) yesterday endorsed President John Magufuli’s efforts to tackle corruption, but said more needs to be done to reform the country’s economy and improve the financial sustainability of the state-run Tanzania Electric Supply Company Ltd (TANESCO).

 

Magufuli (pictured) has been spearheading a concentrated campaign to root out high-level corruption and inefficiency in government since assuming office in November last year, with several top public officials already unceremoniously removed from their positions as part of the crusade.

 

The IMF mission chief in Tanzania, Hervé Joly, said in a statement the international lender of last resort welcomed this ongoing purge, describing it as a “strong drive against corruption.”

“…It (will) help address the perception that governance (in Tanzania) had deteriorated in recent years, as suggested by a number of surveys,” Joly said. 

 

Businesses have long cited corruption and government inefficiency as major obstacles to investing in Tanzania, which ranked 117 out of 168 countries in Transparency International’s 2015 index of least corrupt countries whereby no. 1 is deemed the least corrupt.

 

But according to the IMF, the Magufuli administration also needs to carry out other “vigorous reforms” to foster further structural transformation of the economy and sustain high productivity gains and investment.

 

“Improving the business environment is also a priority. This includes, among others, better energy and transportation infrastructure and improving access to land and finance,” Joly’s statement said.

 

“Further improving the financial sustainability of the public electricity utility, TANESCO, and settling outstanding arrears on gas and electricity supplies are critical to facilitating continued private sector investment in energy,” it added.

 

Senior public officials who have been dismissed as part of Magufuli’s anti-graft drive include the chief executive officers of the Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau (PCCB), Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA), and Tanzania Ports Authority (TPA).

 

They are just samples of a wider crackdown that has seen many other big heads roll across the entire government and public sector spectrum.

According to the IMF, Tanzania’s economy remains buoyant and inflation will likely remain in check, helped by lower global oil prices.

 

“Preliminary estimates suggest that GDP (gross domestic product) grew by 7 per cent in 2015, with activity particularly buoyant in the construction, communication, finance and transportation sectors,” the statement said.

 

Economic growth is expected to remain close to 7 per cent in 2016, it added, with inflation remaining in single digits at a 5.6 per cent average throughout 2015 despite a “significant” exchange rate depreciation in the first half of the year.

 

According to the IMF statement, inflation is expected to decrease further in the coming months, remaining close to the medium-term target of 5 per cent.

 

Meanwhile, Tanzania’s annual headline inflation rate eased in February to 5.6 per cent from 6.5 percent in January due to slower rises in food prices.

SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN

Investigating graft is not our job - Bunge

 

 The National Assembly has dissociated itself from any responsibility to investigate allegations of corruption against legislators who resigned from the parliamentary standing committee on social services on Tuesday.

 

Speaking to journalists in Dar es Salaam yesterday, Bunge’s head of information Owen Mwandumbwe said although the Speaker’s office is aware of the graft allegations raised, “we leave any investigations, and prosecutions if need be, to relevant authorities.”

 

Mwandumbwe moved to dismiss speculation that Speaker Job Ndugai (pictured) had decided to reshuffle all the parliamentary committees as a direct response to the allegations, saying it was aimed solely at improving work efficiency.

 

“The reshuffle of Bunge committee members is not related in any way to the allegations reported in the media …the MPs who resigned their committee memberships have submitted their letters to the Speaker and they should wait for his response,” he asserted.

 

At least two members of the parliamentary social services committee, Zitto Kabwe and Hussein Bashe, formally resigned in the wake of a local newspaper report that committee members had been offered “a bag of cash” by the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) as a bribe.

 

The duo both called on Speaker Ndugai to open a formal probe into the allegations, which they said had badly tarnished not only the names of all the committee members, but the image of parliament as a whole. 

The committee’s deputy chairperson, Raphael Chegeni, later said the entire committee had also resigned to pave the way for the investigation. Chegeni was then moved to another committee in Ndugai’s subsequent reshuffle.

 

According to Mwandumbwe, if the allegations of corruption are genuine the matter will be handed over to proper investigative authorities who will find out the truth and take appropriate action.

 

“It is not the work of the parliament to investigate criminal allegations,” the Bunge spokesman said.

 

Commenting on the reported resignations from Bunge committee membership, he said this was contrary to parliamentary standing orders because the participation of   legislators in standing committee activities is part of their parliamentary duty.

 

The Speaker has the mandate to appoint or reshuffle members of the respective parliamentary committees, and it was not a matter left the members’ choice, Mwandumbwe added.

 

What  the Speaker’s office has done is take into consideration the requests submitted by some legislators  on the possibilities of  reorganising the parliamentary committees  under article 116(3) of the parliamentary standing orders, the spokesman strived to explain.

SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN

Accountant jailed 23 years for stealing 4 million/-

The official will serve 16 years in gaol for deceiving his employer and another 7 years behind bars for causing loss to the government

Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau (PCCB) Arusha regional chief Juventus Baitu

 The Arusha district court has sentenced Loserian Raphael Laizer, an accountant with the Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority (NCAA) pastoral council, to 23 years imprisonment for obtaining 4.3 million/- through fraudulent means.

 

According to the ruling delivered by district magistrate Dimitrio Nyakunga on Friday last week, Laizer will serve 16 years in gaol for deceiving his employer (NCAA) and another seven years behind bars for causing the government such a loss. The two jail terms will run concurrently. 

 

The prosecution, led by Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau (PCCB) Arusha regional chief Juventus Baitu, told the court that Laizer, while working for NCAA’s pastoral council, used false documents to commit the offence which falls  under the Economic Sabotage Act.

He is said to have prepared a fake list of students to be sponsored by the council, a move that saw him fraudulently pocket the money.

“The list was prepared to indicate that the students were paid the said amount as allowances, when in fact they were not,” prosecutor Baitu said.

 

At the same time, the NCAA’s former chief conservationist Bernard Musomi Murunya is also facing charges of abuse of office before the Arusha resident magistrate’s court. 

 

Murunya, who is now a member of the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) under a ruling CCM party ticket, is alleged to have caused the authority a loss of $66,000 (133m/-) through his actions.

 

According to the prosecution led by PCCB officers Monica Kijazi and Rehema Mteta, on September 9, 2011, in his capacity as NCAA chief conservationist, Murunya failed to properly discharge and honour his duties in a deal with Cosmos Travel Agency, resulting in the said monetary loss.

 

He was arraigned in court alongside the NCAA’s former tourism manager, Veronica Ufunguo.

SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN

Killers of female Somali journalist sentenced to death

 TWO Al Shabaab members who have been convicted of murdering a female Somali journalist have been sentenced to death by the military tribunal of Somalia last Sunday.

 

Liban Ali Yarow, the chief of Somali military court said evidence brought in support of the case showed that they had execution role of Hinda Hajji Mohamed, female journalist killed in car bomb on   December 3, 2015.

 

Hinda who worked for the state media has been killed in a bomb attached under the seat of her private car which exploded out Turkish embassy building in Mogadishu’s KM4 area.

 

Abdirisack Mohamed Barrow, 28, and Hassan Nur Ali Farah, 37, were sentenced to death penalty, after the court has found them guilty of all charges against them, according to Judge Yarow who announced the verdict.

 

Four other co-conspirators have been sentenced to jail terms, two of them life in imprisonment by the Somali military tribunal for their role of the journalist murdering.

 

 Early this month, the court has sentenced Hassan Hanafi, Al Shabaab journalist to death for planning the deaths of five media workers who were killed in Mogadishu between 2007 and 2011. Mandera quarry terror attack that left 14 dead.

 

On July 7, 2015, workers at the quarry were killed by fighters of the al Qaeda-linked terror group as they slept. Dubow is “armed and dangerous”, read a poster the National Police Service circulated on social media on Friday. He is believed to have returned to Kenya from Somalia.

 

 On February 26, Kenyan security agencies placed a Sh8 million bounty on four terror suspects believed to have been behind attacks on a bus and a quarry in Mandera.

 

Abdullahi Issak, Idriss Issack, Ahmed Uweys and Mohamed Shide allegedly planned the November 2014 ambush on Makkah Bus that left 28 dead. They have also been linked to the December 2014 killing of 36 quarry workers in the county.

 

Mandera county ordered all quarries closed immediately to save workers from terror attacks. More than 3,000 people, mostly non-residents, rely on the mines for upkeep.