WikiLeaks na Tanzania

DUH!

Kutoka:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/dec/19/wikileaks-cables-tanzania-bae-fears

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WikiLeaks cables: Tanzania official investigating BAE 'fears for his life'

Prosecutor Edward Hoseah voiced safety fears over inquiry into 'dirty deal' involving sale of radar system to government

Sunday 19 December 2010 21.30 GMT

President Jakaya Kikwete, pictured with George Bush in 2008, had his commitment to fighting corruption questioned, according to the cables. Photograph: Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images

The Tanzanian prosecutor investigating worldwide misconduct by BAE, Britain's biggest arms company, confided to US diplomats that "his life may be in danger" and senior politicians in his small African country were "untouchable".

A leaked account of what the head of Tanzania's anti-corruption bureau, Edward Hoseah, termed the "dirty deal" by BAE to sell Tanzania an overpriced radar system, is revealed in the US embassy cables.

BAE is to appear in court in London tomorrow, when their system of making secret payments to secure arms contracts, exposed by the Guardian, will be officially detailed for the first time.

Every individual involved in the BAE scandal in Britain and Tanzania has escaped prosecution.

But the arms giant agreed with the UK Serious Fraud Office (SFO) to pay £30m in corporate reparations and fines, provided the word "corruption" did not appear on the indictment. A corruption conviction would debar the company from EU contracts.

The former overseas development secretary, Clare Short, said at the time: "It was always obvious that this useless project was corrupt."

Hoseah met a US diplomat, Purnell Delly, in Dar es Salaam in July 2007, and claimed (unrealistically it turned out) he would be able to prosecute guilty individuals in the BAE case. The US cable reports: "He called the deal 'dirty' and said it involved officials from the Ministry of Defence and at least one or two senior level military officers."

Hoseah spoke gloomily about the prospects for Tanzania's anti-corruption struggle and his original hopes to prosecute the "big fish" of corruption.

"He told us point blank ... that cases against the prime minister or the president were off the table ..." The cable then details allegations against former leaders and their inner circles, saying they would be "untouchable".

"He noted that President Kikwete does not appear comfortable letting the law handle corruption cases which might implicate top-level officials." The cable then says Kwitke "does not want to set a precedent" by going after any of his predecessors.

There were "widespread rumours of corruption within the Bank of Tanzania", Hoseah said, and the island region of Zanzibar was also "rife with corruption".

The diplomat noted: "Hoseah reiterated concern for his personal security ... saying he believed his life may be in danger ... He had received threatening text messages and letters and was reminded every day that he was fighting the 'rich and powerful'."

He might have to flee the country. He warned: "He said quietly: 'If you attend meetings of the inner-circle, people want you to feel as if they have put you there. If they see that you are uncompromising, there is a risk.' "

The US embassy noted in a "cynical" aside, that probably the only reason Hoseah felt obliged to attempt a BAE prosecution was because the SFO had presented him with "a fully developed case file, brimming with detailed evidence".

Today's court appearance by BAE is the culmination of lengthy attempts to bring the company to justice since the Guardian exposed its worldwide secret payment system.

The prime minister at the time, Tony Blair, intervened in 2006 to halt an SFO investigation into payments to members of the Saudi royal family.

The US department of justice has had more success than the SFO, forcing BAE to pay $400m (£260m) in penalties under the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

£28m radar deal 'stank'


Tanzania, on Africa's east coast, is one of the poorest states in the world, formerly controlled in turn by Arab slavers, German colonists and the British.

At the time of the radar deal, life expectancy was 45.

Tanzania was forced to apply for debt relief from the west and was heavily dependent on aid. It is ravaged by HIV/Aids and its GDP per head is just $723 (£465).

President Benjamin Mkapa, whose regime did the deal, was succeeded in 2004 by his political colleague Jakaya Kikwete.

Tanzania, which has no air force, bought the military air defence radar from BAE in 2001 for £28m.

It was claimed the Commander system, which was portable and festooned with anti-jamming devices, could also be used for civilian air traffic control.

The country borrowed the cost from Barclays, adding to its debt burden. Both the World Bank and the International Civil Aviation Organisation called the purchase unnecessary and overpriced.

In London, the then development secretary, Clare Short, temporarily blocked aid payments in protest. "It stank," she now says of the sale.

She urged an export licence be withheld, but was overruled by Tony Blair himself. Robin Cook, then foreign secretary, recorded bitterly in his diary that Dick Evans [of BAE] seemed to have "the key to the garden door of No 10 [Downing St]".

In January 2007 the Guardian disclosed that BAE had used an offshore front company, Red Diamond, to secretly pay £8.4m, 30% of the radar's ostensible price, into a Swiss account.

The account was controlled by Tanzanian middleman Sailesh Vithlani. His "consultancy" agreement was, it is alleged, formally signed off in London by Evans.

Skandali ya 'Radar' Bongo

Haya, nangojea kuona kama watu wataburuzwa mahakamani kama hao kwenye skandali zingine!

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Kutoka IPPMEDIA.Com

PCCB traces foreign links to radar scam

By Lydia Shekighenda

The Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau (PCCB) is now contacting various sources outside the country in a new buildup of `convincing evidence` in the on-going investigation into the controversial purchase of the civilian and military air traffic control (radar) system, `The Guardian` has established.

The anti-corruption watchdog confirmed last week to have received the radar case file from the Director of Public Prosecutions, Eliezer Feleshi, for further investigation.

PCCB Public Relations Officer Doreen Kapwani told `The Guardian` that the file has been returned from the DPP with instructions to carry out further investigations of the radar scandal.

``It is true, we (PCCB) have received the radar case file back from the DPP and we are now proceeding with the investigations outside the country,`` she said.

Over a week ago, a section of the local media speculated that the DPP had returned the radar case file to the PCCB because of insufficient evidence for the prosecution of the suspects implicated in the transaction of the military radar bought in 2002 at 52bn/-.

The DPP has instructed the PCCB to carry out further investigation on the circumstances leading to the transaction of the radar.

However, Kapwani would not state when the investigation will be completed and the file returned to the DPP.

``I am not in a position to state how long the investigation will take and when the file will be taken back to the DPP,`` she said.

She urged people to be patient while the corruption watch-dog was carrying out the investigation, saying that it would update the public on the progress once the process was completed.

Kapwani however, called upon the people and other stakeholders to co-operate in giving out information and evidence against the suspects whenever they will be required to do so.

The Tanzania government bought the radar from British Aerospace at a price of 52bn/- in 2002, but it was later established that the price was too high.

It was learnt that part of a `commission` fee of 16bn/- equivalent to 30 per cent of the total radar purchase price, paid to Envers Trading may have been used to bribe top government officials.

The PCCB concluded its investigation on the radar transaction scandal and handed the file to DPP in July last year, seeking formal consent to proceed with prosecution.

The key individuals being investigated by the UK`s Serious Fraud Office (SFO) include ex-attorney general Andrew Chenge, former Bank of Tanzania governor Dr Idris Rashid, and well-known local businesspersons Tanil Somaia and Shailesh Vithlani.

Both local and foreign investigations into the allegations forced Chenge to resign from a cabinet post last year.

However, ever since, there has been no reported progress of investigations on other individuals linked to the scandal.

SOURCE: Guardian

Radar Dar ni Mbovu!

Duh! Pesa zote zilitumika kununua hiyo radar na sasa ni mbovu! Si bora wangekarabati barabara au kujenga hospitali! Na nakumbuka ilivyouzwa ilikuwa skandali kwenye Bunge la Uiingereza maana walidai ufisadi wakati huo. Mpaka watu walidai turudishiwe dola zetu $45 millioni!

Na bado sijaelewa hiyo radar ilikuwa na faida gani kwa Tanzania maana air traffic siyo kubwa.

Labda ingesaidia usiku ule fulani wa mwaka 1978. Taa zote zilizimwa mjini Dar es Salaam, eti makababuru wa South Africa walitaka ku-bomu Dar!

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Controversial radar switched off

Kutoka ippmedia.com

2008-08-26
By Njonanje Samwel

The multi-billion air traffic control system at the Julius Nyerere International Airport (JNIA) in Dar es Salaam has developed a technical glitch, The Guardian can authoritatively report.

The combined civilian and military radar system, which the UK`s BAE Systems sold to Tanzania in 2001, has been non-operational for over a month now.

Infrastructure Development minister Dr Shukuru Kawambwa said in a recent interview that he was unaware of such developments, but yesterday, Tanzania Civil Aviation Authority director general Margaret Munyagi confirmed the information.

``Yes, the air traffic control system (radar) has been switched off,`` said the TCAA head during an interview.

According to her, the USD40m (over 40bn/-) equipment had been ``switched off`` after a component that supplies emergency power during interruption became defective.

``As a precaution, we decided to switch it off to avoid anything wrong that would happen from running it without the component,`` she explained.

The component, which is part of the radar system she identified as uninterruptible power supply (UPS), is used to provide backup power when commercial current is off.

However, Munyagi downplayed the technical glitch, saying was ``normal and a minor one,`` and would not affect airport services and other operations.

She said TCAA technicians were working on an option to procure from abroad a new UPS as soon as possible. She said the authority was now sorting out quotations from various UPS suppliers.

In an earlier interview, Dr Kawambwa dismissed the reports as mere speculation.

``I have no such information. If there is any, it would just be mere speculation,`` he said. He, however, promised to find out the truth on the matter.

In 2001, the government bought the radar from the British giant weapons and rms manufacturer ? British Aerospace (BAE).

The move however, was strongly opposed by members from both, UK?s House of Commons and the Parliament of Tanzania.

The World Bank, International Monetary Fund and International Civil Aviation Organisation also revealed their opposition to the deal, saying it was not economical.

ICAO made it clear that the technology was old-fashioned and expensive, that it would cover only half the country at best, and would not provide the country with the air traffic control that it needed to develop its tourist industry.

Members of the UK?s lower house expressed grave concern and they accused bribery in the process of its sale.

One of them, Clare Short, had told the House of Commons: ``I should say to the House that the police came to see me and said that they have documents showing that it was bribery.``

UK`s Serious Fraud Office (SFO) is currently investigating claims that BAE Systems bribed some Tanzanian officials and businessmen to help push the deal through, fully knowing that the facility involved had used ageing technology that was both inadequate and too expensive.

The radar scandal started way back in 1999, when the government of Tanzania signed a contract with BAE Systems for a combined civilian and military-use radar system.

Two years later, a World Bank report concluded that the system offered poor value for money and was unsuitable for Tanzania`s needs.

The World Bank subsequently asked the ICAO for a more detailed report, and, in November 2001, the ICAO report raised concerns about the project and recommended a further report.

During an official tour of Western Europe, President Jakaya Kikwete expressed concern over the issue and censured London for allowing its company?BAE Systems to ``steal`` poor Tanzanian tax-payers` money.

SOURCE: Guardian