Rostam Aziz: It wasnt me
THISDAY REPORTER
Dar es Salaam
THE Igunga Member of Parliament, Rostam Aziz, has insisted that he was not serving as national treasurer of the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) at the time of the illegal funds disbursement from the Bank of Tanzanias controversial external payment arrears (EPA) account.
A Rostam aide told THISDAY by phone yesterday that the politician-cum-business tycoon was appointed to be CCM national treasurer in June 2006 as part of internal party leadership changes, in which Yusuf Makamba also replaced Philip Mangula as CCM secretary general.
Rostam made the comments in reaction to a previous story published by THISDAY, which stated that he was CCM national treasurer at the time the EPA payments were made from the key BoT account.
The latest development comes in the wake of a special audit on the central banks EPA account conducted by international audit firm Ernest & Young, which uncovered illegal payments of more than 133bn/- made from the BoT during the period between July 1, 2005 and June 30, 2006.
However, an aide to Rostam said the MP took over from the late Ms Salome Mbatia as CCM national treasurer in 2006, and it was Ms Mbatia who served in the post during the 2005 general elections.
After replacing Ms Mbatia, Rostam served briefly in the post until November last year, when he was appointed member of the CCM central committee in yet more party leadership changes that saw Amos Makala become the new CCM national treasurer to date.
During the 2005 general elections, Rostam served in the 22-member CCM national campaign team.
Other members of the team were Mangula (chairman), Edward Lowassa, Ferdinand Ruhinda, Brig. Gen (rtd) Hassan Ngwilizi, Saleh Ramadhan Ferouz, the late Salome Mbatia, Jackson Msome, Omar Ramadhan Mapuri, Kingunge Ngombale-Mwiru, Abdulrahman Kinana, Dr Emmanuel Nchimbi, Samia Suluhu Hassan, and Anna Abdallah.
Also in the campaign team were Ali Ameir Mohamed, Mansoor Yusuf Himid, Mohamed Aboud Mohamed, Peter Kisumo, Mohamed Abdulaziz, Leila Nassor Khamis, Yusuf Mushi, and Sam Mapande.
Sources have said some senior government officials implicated in the EPA scam tried to cover up the illegal payments by claiming that a huge chunk of the funds were secretly diverted to make campaign contributions for CCM during the 2005 presidential elections.
Makamba has already publicly stated that CCM did not benefit in any way from the BoT funds.
Under the CCM constitution, the secretary general and national treasurer are the two principal office bearers responsible for the financial well-being of the party, and are required to ensure adequate funds are available for party operations including financing election campaigns.