Tanzanian Association Oslo

Deep Green Finance:

The plot thickens

-Opposition unveils likely links with CCM election financing

THISDAY REPORTER
Dar es Salaam

A GROUP of political opposition leaders yesterday laid bare a catalogue of highly suspicious payments made by the Bank of Tanzania (BoT) to the mystery Deep Green Finance Limited company and another equally obscure firm, Tangold Limited, amounting to several billions of shillings.

Dr. Wilbrod Slaa (CHADEMA)

The dubious payments made public by leaders of the opposition CHADEMA, Civic United Front (CUF), Tanzania Labour Party (TLP) and NCCR-Mageuzi parties include - but are not limited to more than 10bn/- transferred by BoT to Deep Green Finance Ltd within a four-month period during the run-up to the 2005 general elections.

In a media statement delivered in Dar es Salaam yesterday by CHADEMA secretary general Dr Wilbrod Slaa, it was alleged that the central bank paid a total of 10,484,005.39/- under strange circumstances to Deep Green Finance Ltd between August 1 and December 10, 2005.

According to Dr Slaa, no further payments were made to Deep Green Finance’s account from December 11, 2005 to February 27 this year, when the little-known company surprisingly and unexpectedly filed for bankruptcy and voluntary liquidation.

The opposition leaders gave the government an ultimatum of until November 25 this year to form an independent commission of enquiry to probe allegations of corruption at BoT and in mining contracts, short of which they ’’will take the matter to the people.’’

Yesterday’s developments came in the wake of a series of exclusive reports published by THISDAY during the course of last week regarding questionable payments made by BoT in favour of both Deep Green Finance and Tangold Limited.

The six-page statement issued by opposition leaders yesterday traced suspicious movements of huge amounts of funds through the Deep Green Finance bank account as follows:

-August 1, 2005 - The BoT deposits $1,354,167.26 (approx. 1,546,778,770.92/-) to a bank account owned by Deep Green Finance through cheque number 241740. The funds are withdrawn on the same day by special clearance.

-September 1, 2005 The BoT, through cheque number 015558, transfers another $1,827,137.44 (approx. 2,083,255,881.60/-) to Deep Green Finance. The funds are again withdrawn by special clearance the same day.

-September 8, 2005 - Tangold Limited transfers $100,256.62 (approx. 114,611,746.80/-) to Deep Green Finance.

-September 16, 2005 - A total of 129,000,000/- is withdrawn from Deep Green Finance company’s account and deposited in a special FDR account.

-October 3, 2005 - A total of 2,083,333,333.33/- belonging to the Ministry of Finance is paid through special clearance from the Deep Green Finance company account.

-October 4, 2005 - The BoT deposits $1,789,075.89 (approx. 2,083,891,765.35) to the Deep Green Finance account.

-October 8, 2005 - A total of 39,761,397.98/- is transferred from Deep Green Finance to Tangold Limited.

-October 31, 2005 - Some 2,083,333,333.33/- from the Ministry of Finance is transferred to Deep Green Finance.

-November 2, 2005 - A total of $1,821,095.57 (approx. 2,083,653,279.68/-) is withdrawn from the Deep Green Finance account.

-November 30, 2005 - BoT deposits 2,083,333,333.33/- from the Ministry of Finance to an account owned by Deep Green Finance. The next day, $1,817,199.52 (approx. 2,184,610,383.04/-) is withdrawn from the company’s account.

-December 10, 2005 - A total of 100,940,489.71/- is transferred from Tangold Ltd to Deep Green Finance.

-December 19, 2005 - Some $88,722.17 (approx. 104,755,554.09/-) is withdrawn from the Deep Green Finance account.

’’There is corruption and/or theft of billions of shillings in public funds that has taken place at a time when the country was in the 2005 general election process. We have all documents showing that a number of shell companies were used to loot money from BoT,’’ said Dr Slaa.

TLP national chairman Augustine Mrema, one of the losing presidential candidates in the 2005 elections and who was also present at yesterday’s media conference , said the government could not afford to simply ignore the latest allegations.

And prominent local human rights activist and lawyer Tundu Lissu disclosed that the mystery Deep Green Finance company had opened its account at NBC Corporate Branch in Dar es Salaam on a public holiday on May 1, 2004, without paying a minimum deposit amount required for opening a new account.

He said the account was kept open for over a year without recording any transactions, until it suddenly started receiving billions of shillings from the BoT.

On Tangold Limited, Dr Slaa detailed a catalogue of other dubious payments by the BoT to the company registered in Mauritius.

Listed company directors of Tangold, which inherited operations of the bankrupt Meremeta Gold company, are the incumbent BoT governor Daudi Balali, former attorney general Andrew Chenge (currently Minister for Infrastructure Development), and Permanent Secretaries Gray Mgonja (Finance), Patrick Rutabanzibwa (Water) and Vincent Mrisho (Prime Minister’s Office).