THE former Director General with Tanzania Ports Authority (TPA) Ephraim Ngiza Mgawe and his deputy Hamadi Musa Koshuma, have been found to have a case to answer by the Kisutu Resident Magistrate’s Court.
Mgawe and Koshuma are charged with abuse of their positions by awarding a multi-billion-shilling tender to China Communication and Construction Limited (CCCL) worth about 523 million US dollars (over 800bn/-).
Principal Resident Magistrate, Cyprian Mkeha ruled that the prosecution, through its five witnesses, established a prima facie case, requiring the accused to submit their defence in respect of the charges they are facing. Upon the court’s decision, Mgawe and Koshuma will start presenting their defence from May 16, this year.
Through their advocates, Koshuma will present nine witnesses including himself and on the other hand Mgawe will defend himself. Earlier, Senior State Attorney, Theophil Mutakyawa told the court that the matter had come to determine whether the accused had a case to answer or not.
It is alleged by the prosecution that the two former bosses of TPA committed the offence on December 5, 2011 at TPA, within the city of Dar es Salaam.
According to the prosecution, being employed by the TPA as Director General and Deputy Director General respectively, Mgawe and Koshuma, abused their positions while discharging their respective duties.
It is alleged that the duo signed a commercial contract between TPA and the CCCL for construction of berths number 13 and 14 at the Dar es Salaam Port without invitation of tenders.
Such an act, the prosecution further alleged, was in violation of the provisions of Section 31 of the Public Procurement Act, No. 21 of 2004 and was intended to obtain an undue advantage for the Chinese construction company.
Meanwhile, The Kisutu Resident Magistrate’s Court in Dar es Salaam failed to deliver the ruling of an application to reject the money laundering count of over 12bn/- payments facing the former Commissioner General (CG) of the Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA), Harry Kitilya and two others because it was incomplete.
Senior Resident Magistrate, Emilius Machauru told the court that he failed to complete drafting the ruling on time because he was attached to other official matters. He informed the court that a big portion had already been drafted and that a small part was left, therefore pledged to deliver the ruling on April 27, this year.
Immediately after Magistrate Mchauru had issued the information and declared that the accused would be returned in remand custody, some of the accused family, close relatives and friends were heard weeping inside the court room.
Kitilya is charged alongside former Miss Tanzania and head of investment banking at Stanbic Bank, Shose Sinare and Sioi Graham Solomon, the former Chief Legal Counsel to the bank.
During the previous session, advocate Ringo Tenga, Joseph Tadayo, Majura Magafu, Semu Anney, Alex Mgongolwa and Godfrey Nyaisa told the court the count in question was fatally defective for not disclosing the offence of money laundering, as stated in the law.
“The defect goes straight to the particulars of the offence. A money laundering offence must contain four elements like Illicit source placement, layering and integration,” argued advocate Mgongolwa, on behalf of his co-defence counsel.
Submissions by the defence had been filed after the court refused to grant bail to the accused persons, who are facing a total of eight counts. Other charges include forgery, uttering false documents and obtaining six million US dollars (about 12bn/-) by false pretence.
