Tanzanian Association Oslo

Ballali resignation reports:

No official response

Daudi Ballali

-Key government figures say they´re in the dark

THISDAY REPORTERS
Dar es Salaam

SPECULATION is rife about Bank of Tanzania (BoT) Governor Dr Daudi Ballali’s current position after news of his abrupt resignation filtered out in Dar es Salaam this week.

Ballali’s brief, two-paragraph letter, which government officials have so far neither publicly denied nor validated, was reportedly sent to President Jakaya Kikwete on Wednesday afternoon.

The Minister for Finance, Ms Zakia Meghji - who is technically the BoT governor’s immediate boss - told reporters in Dar es Salaam yesterday that she knew nothing about Ballali´s stated resignation.

’’I don’t know anything about these reports. Under normal procedure, he (Ballali) was supposed to send me such a letter of resignation which I have clearly not received,’’ Ms Meghji said.

The finance minister said she only learnt about the reports of Ballali’s resignation from morning newspapers yesterday.

’’As far as I know, the governor is currently sick I cannot make any comment until I get an official resignation letter from him,’’ she stated.

She added: ’’Even though he (Ballali) has been sick for sometime now, I am not aware of any immediate plans by the government to replace him.’’

Ms Meghji also announced that the much-anticipated audit findings on the BoT’s external payment arrears account payments during 2005/06 would soon be released by the Controller and Auditor General (CAG).

When contacted for comment, State House director of communications Salva Rweyemamu also said he had not received any official information about the reports of Ballali’s resignation.

Latest reports reaching THISDAY say close friends of Ballali have advised him to remain in the United States, where he has been hospitalised for the past three months at a Boston medical centre.

In his absence, the central bank has been under the leadership of its two recently-appointed deputy governors, Juma Reli and Prof. Benno Ndulu.

Meanwhile, reacting to the reports of Ballali’s resignation, prominent CHADEMA legislator Dr Wilbrod Slaa appeared to welcome the news but said he was hardly surprised.

Even so, Slaa - deputy leader of the official opposition in the National Assembly and also an outspoken critic of alleged massive funds misuse at the BoT - said the government should ensure Ballali returns to the country to answer multiple allegations of corruption against him.

’’He must come back home to answer all the charges against him,’’ declared Slaa.

The 64-year-old Ballali has been the central bank governor since 1998, and was serving his second term in the post before scheduled official retirement next year.

A long-time employee of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Ballali was stationed in Washington for some 20 years, being heavily involved in structural adjustment programmes for several African countries.

He first joined the BoT in 1967 as an economist, and quickly climbed the ladder to the post of senior economist (1972) and director of research (1973-76).

From 1976, he started working with the IMF in Washington DC, and later headed IMF missions in countries like Ghana and Zimbabwe.

Between 1997 and 1998, he was economic adviser to then president Benjamin Mkapa at State House, before being appointed to replace Dr Idris Rashidi as BoT governor.

But despite this impressive resume, Ballali has also been linked to allegations of widespread corruption during his almost decade-long stint in the central bank’s pilot seat.