Tanzanian Association Oslo

Ballali still in Boston,

says Dar envoy to US

MBARAKA ISLAM
Dar es Salaam

THE Tanzanian embassy in the United States has asserted that former Bank of Tanzania governor Dr Daudi Ballali is still in the US city of Boston undergoing medical treatment, as an element of mystery continues to surround the ex-governor’s actual current whereabouts.

The Tanzanian ambassador to Washington DC, Ombeni Sefue, confirmed to THISDAY yesterday that Ballali was up to last week still being treated at a hospital in Boston, Massachusetts.

Speaking in a telephone interview from Zanzibar where he is attending a high-level meeting of the country’s diplomatic officers, Sefue said: ’’By the time I left Washington last week to come here, Ballali was in Boston, undergoing medical treatment. I believe he is still there, since he is quite sick.’’

Speculation in the country has become rife about where exactly Ballali may currently be, following his unceremonious January 8 dismissal from the BoT governorship in absentia by President Jakaya Kikwete, in the wake of official confirmation of massive funds embezzlement from a key central bank account.

He is understood to have left the country for the US way back in September last year, reportedly to undergo medical treatment for an unspecified ailment. This was before the BoT special audit that eventually confirmed the systematic looting once and for all had even started.

Only two days ago (Sunday), prominent opposition legislator Dr Wilbrod Slaa added fuel to the speculation windmill by publicly declaring that the disgraced former BoT boss has already left the US and sought refuge in the small European island nation of Malta.

According to Dr Slaa, who is also secretary general of the opposition CHADEMA party and is himself credited with unearthing the latest BoT looting scandal, Ballali departed from the States on Wednesday last week aboard a private jet.

This followed an announcement by the US embassy in Dar es Salaam that Ballali’s visa allowing him to be in the US had been revoked following his sacking.

There have also been reports that the disgraced ex-BoT supremo may be planning a dramatic voluntary return to Tanzania to ’clear his name,’ as it were.

But when asked yesterday about all these reports, Ambassador Sefue said he was quite sure Ballali was still in the US receiving medical attention.

On the ex-governor’s current immigration status in the US after revocation of his visa, the ambassador said: ’’I am not sure what exactly has happened. However, after his removal from office (BoT), it was only normal for his visa status to be subsequently altered.’’

Noting that Ballali had been using a Tanzanian diplomatic passport by virtue of his position as BoT governor, Sefue explained that his (Ballali) sacking meant that he was no longer eligible to continue holding the diplomatic passport.

He said Ballali was now free to reapply for another US visa using a normal passport.

When asked by THISDAY if the visa revocation by the US Government was part of any plans to deport Ballali back to the country, ambassador Sefue stated: ’’I don’t know of any arrangement to deport or extradite Ballali from the United States. Besides, he is a sick man, so I don’t think there is anyone who can deport him while he is still undergoing medical treatment.’’

According to insiders, the 64-year-old Ballali has been suffering from liver complications and a sinus infection.