Two more BoT officials in
court :
scandalous
INFLATED COSTS: Former BoT project manager Deogratias Kweka (left) and the central bank`s ex-director of human resources and administration, Amatus Liyumba (right), await their turn to climb into the dock at the Kisutu court in Dar es Salaam yesterday.
THISDAY REPORTER
Dar es Salaam
THE Bank of Tanzania’s former director of personnel and administration, Amatus Joachim Liyumba, and ex-central bank project manager Deogratias Dawson Kweka were yesterday jointly charged with causing a loss of more than $153m (approx. 221bn/-) to the government in connection with the controversial Twin Towers construction project.
Liyumba, a once-powerful figure within the BoT, was one of several senior central bank officials removed from their positions following the release in January last year of the special audit report on the now-infamous BoT external payment arrears (EPA) account during 2005/06.
In criminal case number 27 of 2009, he and Kweka were arraigned at the Kisutu Resident Magistrate’s Court to answer charges of abuse of office, disobedience of statutory duty, and occasioning a total loss of $153,077,715.71/- (approx. 221,197,299,200.95/-) to the government.
Prosecutors charged Liyumba with abusing the authority of his office between 2001 and 2006, by ’’undertaking major decisions in the extension of the construction project of the Bank of Tanzania and implementing it without the approval of the board of directors of the BoT.’’
He is alleged to have ordered substantial structural changes to be made in the Twin Towers extension project without prior approval of the board, contrary to the Public Procurement Act of 2004 and regulations contained in the Bank of Tanzania Act of 2006.
Liyumba and Kweka were also jointly charged with failing to verify the legitimacy of payments made to various contractors associated to the project, and misleading the board of directors into reaching its decision to authorize the payments, thus causing a loss of more than $153m to the government.
Both co-accused, appearing before Kisutu Resident Magistrate Hadija Msongo, pleaded not guilty to the charges filed by the Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau (PCCB). They could not immediately meet the bail conditions, and were sent to remand prison.
Each was required to surrender cash or title deeds of assets worth 55.1bn/- to the court. The case next comes up for mention on February 10.
The BoT Twin Towers headquarters extension project, located at 10 Mirambo Street in Dar es Salaam, has generated considerable controversy in the public domain, with independent experts saying the construction costs were inflated by at least four times the value of similar buildings in some of the world’s most expensive cities like London, New York and Tokyo.
According to BoT financial statements dating back to the year 2004, the resplendent Twin Towers project was initially estimated to cost just $89.05m (approx. 115bn/-).
The central bank’s financial report for the same year showed that it also entered into another contract for the construction of new main office premises in Zanzibar’s Gulioni area, at a cost of $25.5m (approx. 33bn/-).
But since these figures were initially projected, the cost of especially the Twin Towers project has continued to sky-rocket, fueling allegations of high level corruption in the project.
By 2005/06, BoT financial reports showed that ongoing construction works on the Twin Towers building in Dar es Salaam and new offices in Zanzibar had a combined net book value of around 430.5bn/- by the end of June 2006.
The current central bank management under governor Prof. Benno Ndulu last year ordered an independent technical and ’’value for money’’ audit to be carried out on the Twin Towers project, along with the Zanzibar branch.
The outcome of this audit could not be immediately ascertained.
Courtsey of ThisDAY (Tanzania)
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