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- Feb 11, 2007
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Nation awaits names of key EPA players
THIS DAY
GOVERNMENT officials admit this is a crucial week for the war on corruption in the country as the nation awaits to hear news on the prosecution of major players behind the external payment arrears (EPA) account scandal at the Bank of Tanzania (BoT).
So far, prosecutors have filed criminal charges against 20 suspects linked to the massive BoT scandal.
But apart from business tycoons Jeetu Patel and Johnson Lukaza, the so-called 'big fish' in the scam remain conspicuously missing from all the high-profile action at the Kisutu Resident Magistrate's Court in Dar es Salaam.
In particular, two prominent business tycoons linked to the now infamous Kagoda Agriculture Limited company, who are well-known by authorities as being the main architects behind the EPA scandal are yet to face any legal action.
If prosecutors fail to file any grand corruption charges against the well-known masterminds of the EPA scandal linked to the Kagoda company, observers say the credibility of the entire proceedings at the court would be seriously questioned.
There has been much public criticism that only 'small fish (sardines)' have so far been charged with conspiracy, fraud and theft of EPA funds while the so-called 'corruption sharks' remain unscathed.
Officials in close contact with the EPA investigation say state attorneys at the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) could this week file charges against more suspects implicated in the theft of more than 133bn/- from the key BoT account during 2005/06.
The DPP himself, Eliezer Feleshi, issued a brief statement on Friday saying he has returned some of the case files on the EPA investigation back to law enforcement agencies for further investigations.
It is understood that a team of state attorneys under the DPP has already concluded the rigorous task of studying all the investigation files submitted by the EPA probe team led by Attorney General Johnson Mwanyika on November 2, this year.
For the past two weeks, state attorneys have been going through hundreds of pages of documents detailing the remarkable fraud behind the EPA scandal.
However, the decision of the DPP to return some of the investigation files to investigators means that the evidence presented to his office by Mwanyika's team on some of the EPA case files was inconclusive.
Government officials say the Kagoda case is a ''highly sensitive subject'' and appear reluctant to publicly comment on the real beneficiaries behind the company.
Kagoda is the single biggest beneficiary of the EPA funds, with its architects looting more than 40bn/- from the central bank through clearly forged documents.
Sources close to the EPA investigation say their is a ''mountain of evidence'' against the business tycoons behind the Kagoda company, but authorities appear ''reluctant'' to take action against the well-connected individuals.
Investigators say the two prominent business tycoons linked to the shell company will not face criminal charges ''come what may.''
''A lot of influential people have been compromised to make sure that the Kagoda case never goes to trial, no matter what happens,'' a senior law enforcement official told THISDAY on condition of not being named.
THIS DAY
GOVERNMENT officials admit this is a crucial week for the war on corruption in the country as the nation awaits to hear news on the prosecution of major players behind the external payment arrears (EPA) account scandal at the Bank of Tanzania (BoT).
So far, prosecutors have filed criminal charges against 20 suspects linked to the massive BoT scandal.
But apart from business tycoons Jeetu Patel and Johnson Lukaza, the so-called 'big fish' in the scam remain conspicuously missing from all the high-profile action at the Kisutu Resident Magistrate's Court in Dar es Salaam.
In particular, two prominent business tycoons linked to the now infamous Kagoda Agriculture Limited company, who are well-known by authorities as being the main architects behind the EPA scandal are yet to face any legal action.
If prosecutors fail to file any grand corruption charges against the well-known masterminds of the EPA scandal linked to the Kagoda company, observers say the credibility of the entire proceedings at the court would be seriously questioned.
There has been much public criticism that only 'small fish (sardines)' have so far been charged with conspiracy, fraud and theft of EPA funds while the so-called 'corruption sharks' remain unscathed.
Officials in close contact with the EPA investigation say state attorneys at the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) could this week file charges against more suspects implicated in the theft of more than 133bn/- from the key BoT account during 2005/06.
The DPP himself, Eliezer Feleshi, issued a brief statement on Friday saying he has returned some of the case files on the EPA investigation back to law enforcement agencies for further investigations.
It is understood that a team of state attorneys under the DPP has already concluded the rigorous task of studying all the investigation files submitted by the EPA probe team led by Attorney General Johnson Mwanyika on November 2, this year.
For the past two weeks, state attorneys have been going through hundreds of pages of documents detailing the remarkable fraud behind the EPA scandal.
However, the decision of the DPP to return some of the investigation files to investigators means that the evidence presented to his office by Mwanyika's team on some of the EPA case files was inconclusive.
Government officials say the Kagoda case is a ''highly sensitive subject'' and appear reluctant to publicly comment on the real beneficiaries behind the company.
Kagoda is the single biggest beneficiary of the EPA funds, with its architects looting more than 40bn/- from the central bank through clearly forged documents.
Sources close to the EPA investigation say their is a ''mountain of evidence'' against the business tycoons behind the Kagoda company, but authorities appear ''reluctant'' to take action against the well-connected individuals.
Investigators say the two prominent business tycoons linked to the shell company will not face criminal charges ''come what may.''
''A lot of influential people have been compromised to make sure that the Kagoda case never goes to trial, no matter what happens,'' a senior law enforcement official told THISDAY on condition of not being named.