Corruption allegations:
Nyerere family to
-Will be asked to explain himself
THISDAY REPORTER
Musoma
THE family of the late Mwalimu Julius Kambarage Nyerere intends to summon ex-president Benjamin Mkapa to Butiama Village next month to discuss widespread allegations of corruption and abuse of office now besetting the former head of state.
A member of the Nyerere family, Peter Wanzagi, has confirmed to THISDAY that Mkapa, who holds the position of honorary son of Nyerere’s Zanaki tribe, will be called to the family meeting scheduled for next month.
He will be asked to explain the allegations being made against him, Wanzagi said.
The family meeting at Nyerere’s birthplace of Butiama in Mara Region, will be chaired by the current Zanaki tribal chief Japhet Wanzagi.
Said Peter Wanzagi, who is also Butiama Village councillor: ’’Mkapa is one of us (family), so we have seen fit to call him to the family meeting, where we will discuss these allegations against him.’’
He explained that if the corruption allegations against Mkapa are genuine, the family will decide what to do about it, including possibly kicking him out of the family and denouncing his honorary status.
Although not a native of Butiama Village in Mara Region, the ex-president was made an honorary son of the small but influential Zanaki tribe some four years ago.
Mkapa was hand-picked by Nyerere to become the country’s president in 1995, and has remained close to the Wanzagi clan even after the death of the Father of the Nation in 1999.
According to Peter Wanzagi, corruption and abuse of public office were totally against Nyerere’s teachings on integrity and ethical leadership.
On the other hand, another senior member of the Nyerere family, Joseph Butiku, said isolating Mkapa from family gatherings for the corruption allegations would be too drastic a move.
’’I don’t think it is appropriate to isolate a family member just because he or she may have done something wrong,’’ said Butiku, who is also executive director of the Mwalimu Nyerere Foundation.
Butiku has already gone on record for publicly declaring that Mkapa betrayed the late Nyerere in opting to engage in private business dealings while at State House.
The Mwalimu Nyerere Foundation chief executive has repeatedly challenged the ex-president to come out of his shell and defend himself against the allegations of corruption and abuse of office, instead of his current stance of maintaining an odd silence.
With pressure now mounting from within the National Assembly for an official investigation against him, insiders say Mkapa may only now be considering coming clean on the accusations, under advice from close aides.
The various allegations facing the ex-president cover his 10-year tenure as head of state from 1995 to 2005, and are threatening to seriously stain his legacy in government as ’Mr Clean.’
The Prime Minister, Mizengo Pinda, on Thursday announced the government’s intention to take a closer look at, and probably act on the allegations against Mkapa.
Among other things, the ex-president and former first lady Anna Mkapa are reported to have registered a private company, ANBEM Limited, in 1999 (while still at State House), listing themselves as sole directors and ’entrepreneurs.’
With ANBEM Ltd operating from within the official State House walls in Dar es Salaam, Mr and Mrs Mkapa obtained loans of up to 750m/- from the National Bank of Commerce and CRDB Bank Limited.
It has also been reported that in 2004, Mkapa, former cabinet minister Daniel Yona (with both still in public office), and various close relatives jointly registered another private company under the name of Tanpower Resources Limited.
It has been further reported that the following year (2005), the two of them went on to oversee the ’fast-track’ privatization and sale of the government-owned Kiwira coal mine to Tanpower Resources, at a ridiculously cheap price of just 700m/-.
The infrastructure at the Kiwira mine was built by the state at a cost of 4bn/- in the 1980s, and the coal deposits alone are estimated to be worth hundreds of billions of shillings.
Out of the 700m/- purchase price, Tanpower Resources are understood to have made a down payment of just 70m/- for a majority stake in the coal mine, and proceeded to sign a lucrative $271.8m (approx. 326bn/-) power generation deal with the state-run Tanzania Electric Supply Company (TANESCO) in March 2006.
When asked numerous times last year to respond to all these reported allegations, Mkapa opted to maintain an odd silence, remarking at one public function that he was now a retired politician and should therefore be allowed to ’rest.’
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