Dar es Salaam, Tanzania — The former head of Tanzania’s Ports Authority, Deusdedit Kakoko, who was suspended on Sunday by the new President Samia Suluhu Hassan over alleged embezzlement of public funds, in a move widely seen as an impetus to the country’s ongoing war against corruption, has been arrested.
The Director-General of Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau (PCCB) John Mbungo confirmed that Kakoko was arrested and currently in police custody for interrogation over alleged claims.
Speaking in the capital city Dodoma shortly after receiving the government’s annual audit report for 2019/2020, Hassan said she was startled by massive embezzlement of public funds that had been conducted by officials at the Tanzania Ports Authority (TPA), urging the country’s anti-corruption tsar—the Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau (PCCB) to urgently investigate and where appropriate institute criminal charges against those behind the scam.
“I now order the suspension of the director-general of the port authority to pave way for the investigation,” Hassan said.
According to her at least Tanzania shillings 3.6 billion($1.56 million) had been embezzled by unscrupulous officials at the sprawling port nestled in the Indian ocean, as highlighted in the report submitted by the Controller and Auditor General (CAG) Charles Kichele.
Strong Measures
The president said various reports have been spotting embezzlement and outright theft of public money at the TPA but no strong measures had been taken to curb the loss of public funds.
“From these reports I have seen massive fraud that has been conducted at TPA, we need to take actions on this for the country to benefit from its own resources,” she said
The president’s move is part of continued government efforts to seal off loopholes for theft of public monies that are channeled to non-existent development projects.
Hassan, who was sworn in on March 19 after John Magufuli suddenly died, is Tanzania’s first female head of state and is expected to complete Magufuli’s five-year term which started last November.
Special Audit
The president has also instructed the Controller and Auditor General and the state’s anti-corruption agency to conduct a special audit of development expenditures in the third quarter (January to March 2021) of the current financial year.
“We want to see an audit of all funds released for the implementation of development projects from January to March, this year,” the president said.
After reading the executive summary of the report, the president spotted a number of issues that required immediate action to improve efficiency and better use of public money.
She has also instructed the CAG to be more transparent when preparing audit reports so that the government can act accordingly.
Dirty Bills
TPA is among public institutions which prominently feature in the CAG report with “dirty bills”.
The institution has for a long time been embroiled in corruption allegations and misuse of public funds.
In December last year, Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa formed a probe team to investigate alleged corruption at the port. Two officials including Nuru Mhando, the port’s finance director, and Witness Mahela, its financial expenditure manager, were suspended to pave way for investigations over accusation of embezzlement of public funds.
As part of her efforts to control leakages of government revenue the president has instructed the ministry of finance to harmonize six systems that are being used for revenue collection by making them more efficient to simplify collections, spending, and monitoring process of all development projects.