Tanzania: It Is Laudable Move On Richmond Scam
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The Citizen (Dar es Salaam)
EDITORIAL
29 August 2008
Posted to the web 29 August 2008
Some six months since a parliamentary select committee tabled in the National Assembly its report on the Richmond scandal, which contained 23 key recommendations, Prime Minister Mizengo Pinda yesterday unveiled in the august House the Government's implementation of the proposals.
And it's not surprising that the MPs and the general public have received Mr Pinda's report with mixed reactions. Some have even dismissed it as a ploy to protect a few senior public officials involved in the monumental scam.
However, others have praised the PM's report, saying that it indicates just how much the Kikwete administration is determined to deal firmly with those whose actions have cost the country dearly, irrespective of whatever positions they may hold in the Government.
According to Mr Pinda, the ministers and other top officials adversely named in the parliamentary inquiry are not off the hook yet. They will face yet another investigation as they have been served with letters to defend themselves against the allegations levelled against them, as the principle of natural justice requires. Otherwise most of the committee's recommendations have been implemented.
It is unfortunate that the now infamous Richmond contract for the generation of emergency power emerged in 2006, hardly five months into the fourth phase government, badly soiling its image. But it will be recalled that the deal was signed hastily in the face of serious electricity shortages that had gripped the country at the time, threatening to stall the economy.
The Richmond deal is among several others signed to provide emergency power generation to ease the crisis. The realisation that the company had no capacity to deliver, shamed the nation, paving the way for another firm, Dowans, to come to the centre stage, inheriting Richmond's mandate.
The scandal should serve as a serious warning to the Kikwete's administration in many ways. From now on, the Government must exercise extra care and vigilance in entering into contracts with foreign companies. Such deals must strictly follow the provisions of the Public Procurement law after a thorough investigation to establish the credibility of the foreign firm is carried out.
Our embassies and other missions overseas will now have to play a greater role in providing intelligence on the unknown suitors coming from their host countries.
The Government will also deposit copies of all public contracts with Parliament so that MPs can access and review them whenever need arises. This should give the MPs, as the people's representatives, an opportunity to scrutinise and blow the whistle on questionable deals. But this should be done during the preliminary stages of preparing public procurement contracts.
The people will be eagerly awaiting the results of the further investigation of the senior public officials over their involvement in the scandal and what penalty they are likely to suffer. The people will want to see the Government take firm action and not just to hold only junior officials accountable, as the masterminds go scot-free.
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Hopefully, the investigations will shed light on how Richmond gave way to Dowans. The intrigue is deepened by revelations that there are no records on this in the Government.
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