Dr Hosea, Feleshi targeted
2009-02-22 12:47:40
By Staff Writer
A group of politicians and traders who benefited from shady deals executed during the third phase regime are now planning a secret mission targeting the anti-corruption czar and the Director of Public Prosecutions, The Guardian on Sunday has learnt.
The group first launched the plan to bring down those investigating them for corruption - mainly Dr Edward Hosea of the Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau (PCCB) - early last year, before it was detected by the intelligence community. Intelligence officials have since written a report on the issue and are monitoring the group.
Both Dr Hosea and Feleshi told The Guardian on Sunday this week that they were aware of what they described as a smear campaign to discredit their integrity and credibility, but it wouldn?t deter them from doing their jobs.
``I am aware of the plan but this is my country and I am ready for anything,`` Dr Hosea said. ``I can`t be intimidated by bastards; their days are numbered as their evils are thoroughly investigated.
Some senior officials in the ruling party who declined to be named told The Guardian on Sunday that the group would try to tie Dr Hosea and Feleshi to corruption allegations of their own, and to show that the two officials have favoured or excused corrupt leaders who share their ethnic background.
Dr Hosea, Feleshi and Director of Criminal Investigations Robert Manumba all belong to the Sukuma tribe and grew up in the same region.
A worrisome trend
This attempt to discredit those investigating and prosecuting corrupt officials before they can ensure justice is perhaps most distressing for how common it has become throughout sub-Saharan Africa in recent years.
In South Africa, dissidents within the African National Congress used the same reputation-smearing tactics to ensure that the Scorpions - a special operations unit in the National Prosecuting Authority that took on high-profile cases of corruption and organised crime - were disbanded shortly after the arrest and prosecution of Jacob Zuma, Toni Yengeni and Shabir Shaick.
Shaick and Yengeni were subsequently jailed on corruption charges, but Zuma, who now leads the ANC, went free.
The head of Nigeria?s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Nuhu Ribadu, was also ousted in late 2007, supposedly so he could take a one-year senior-level training course, but largely acknowledged to be because he had been making progress in the fight against graft in Nigeria, routinely rated one of the most corrupt countries in the world.
The chairman of Zambia`s anti-corruption task force Mark Chona was dismissed in 2005 amid similar circumstances, and Kenya`s former anti-corruption chief John Githongo resigned amid death threats and a general feeling that he lacked support for the work he was doing.
Here in Tanzania, the group targeting Dr Hosea and Feleshi tried to discourage the fight against grand corruption by arguing that investigating the graft cases undermines Chama cha Mapinduzi`s unity and jeopardises national security.
When that failed to get any traction, the group authored a well detailed dossier that was circulated to the media, MPs, the donor community and online, alleging that Dr Hosea owned property worth billions of shillings that could not be accounted for by his government salary.
The dossier was released just after the PCCB had declared publicly that it was investigating major corruption scandals including the Bank of Tanzania External Payment Arrears account scam, the building of the Twin Towers, the Buzwagi Mineral Development Agreement contract, the BAE Radar deal and the Alex Stewart Assayers deal.
Taking advantage of disgruntled staff within the PCCB, the group launched a whisper campaign against Dr Hosea, sparking rumours that he was not investigating the Richmond energy scam as seriously as the other cases because he himself had benefited from Richmond.
``I know who some of them are,` Dr Hosea said. ``I welcome them if they have any credible evidence to implicate me.
``There are those who want me sacked because of the Richmond scam, but the truth is that I wasn`t part of the negotiation team that executed the deal,`` he said. ``I just gave my candid opinion that having investigated the contract, there wasn?t any evidence showing that officials were bribed.``
At this point the intelligence community was commissioned to investigate the allegations and the people behind them.
In a dossier written last April, intelligence officials managed to establish a list of traders, retired politicians, MPs and media practitioners who were thought to be behind the campaign.
The list included top officials from the judiciary, casting doubt on the future of the corruption cases once they enter the courtroom, and creating a sense of futility in the war on corruption at large.
But going beyond starting rumours, The Guardian on Sunday has reliably established that the group has planned to wire dirty money from abroad into their targets` bank accounts and then leak the transaction documents to the media and legislators, falsely tying the investigators to corrupt acts of their own.
The group is also seeking private investigators to thoroughly scrutinise the lifestyle of Dr Hosea`s family, who have been living in the United States for years.
The group believes Dr Hosea bought a posh house in the US, a property he couldn?t afford with his government salary.
Dr Hosea said he has not bought a home abroad, but has been renting an apartment for his family there.
``I am a fighter who is ready to fight for his country by ensuring that all corrupt leaders are prosecuted. I am not worried by anything,`` the PCCB czar told The Guardian on Sunday.
As in Nigeria, Kenya, Zambia and Nigeria, the group here are also accusing anti-corruption officials, and the DPP especially, of favouritism and protecting those of their own political or ethnic background.
They claim that the prosecutions of Basil Mramba, Daniel Yona and Gray Mgonja have moved forward, while suspects Andrew Chenge and Nazir Karamagi, implicated in the BAE radar and Buzwagi gold mine deals, respectively, have been protected thus far. Mramba, Yona and Mgonja all come from northern regions near the Kenyan border, while Chenge and Karamagi come from the Lake Zone region, like Feleshi and Dr Hosea.
``When it comes to the [BAE] radar deal or Buzwagi, the DPP will say dig deeper, we need more investigation, but for Mramba and colleagues, he says just proceed to court - this is outrageous,`` one senior CCM official told The Guardian on Sunday.
The official added, ?The DPP has been using the supposed lack of credible evidence to delay even the prosecutions of Kagoda officials?but there`s plenty of evidence.
Feleshi denied any intentional delays in the prosecution of Chenge or Karamagi, and said the fact that he and Chenge share the same tribe is entirely irrelevant.
``I was not recruited by Chenge, and those who think I am taking actions based on my tribe lack grounds,`` Feleshi said yesterday. ``I am guided by the constitution not political pressure.
I wasn?t recruited by the government of the United Republic of Tanzania?because of my tribe, but my integrity and credibility.`` When Chenge was Attorney General, Feleshi was in charge of the AG chambers in the Lake Zone.
Later, in 2005 after Chenge had left his post, Feleshi was appointed DPP by President Kikwete in early 2006.
``I found Chenge employed by the same government and he was my senior?and that`s all,`` Feleshi said. ``Those who believe there`s evidence (of wrongdoing) should apply private prosecutions because it is allowed according to our law.``
SOURCE: Sunday Observer
