NSSF refutes Mbowe loan loss reports
By Zephania Ubwani, Arusha
THE CITIZEN
The National Social Security Fund has denied that it has lost billions of shillings through a loan extended to Mbowe Hotels Limited 18 years ago.
It confirmed, however, that it has a case in court against the firm owned by a top Opposition leader over unsettled debts. Mr Yacoub Kidula, the fund's director of planning, investments and projects told journalists that the row has been unnecessarily politicized. "This matter is in court.
Why don't we wait for the outcome of the case?" he asked, adding that it was not true NSSF had lost lots of money because of the loan. NSSF, then known as the National Provident Fund (NPF), extended a loan of Sh15 million to Mbowe Hotels Limited in 1990 for the expansion of its hotel in Dar es Salaam.
The loan was to be repayed over six years but that had not been the case until now, he said. Mr Kidula was reacting to media reports last week that Mbowe Hotels owed NSSF Sh1.2 billion.
"Reports that NSSF was bankrupt because of the loan are not true. What I know is that our case against Mbowe Hotels is still in court," he reiterated. Emphasising that the hotels firm does not owe NSSF Sh1.2 billion, he said the amount could be just a half of that figure or less, declining to specify the actual amount owed.
Legal experts at the fund headquarters were working on the matter which has been in court since 1996, he said.
A section of the media reported last week that NSSF was owed Sh1.2 billion by Mbowe Hotels Limited of Dar es Salaam in unpaid loans. The firm belongs to Mr Freeman Mbowe, the national chairman of Chadema, who contested the presidency in the 2005 General Election.
Other directors of the firm are Manase A.Mbowe and Dr Lilian Mtei Mbowe. The loan was to be used for refurbishment of the old Mbowe Hotels in the heart of Dar es Salaam, leading to setting up of Hard Rock Restaurant and Bilicanas Club and Casino.