Bariadi West MP Andrew Chenge explains a point to
the Ethics secretariat which he again managed to bar from questioning
him after he appealed against the same with the High Court.
In the surprising turn of events, soon after the Ethics Secretariat
Chairman, Retired Judge Hamisi Msumi revoked the High Court stop order
that was submitted by Chenge on Wednesday, the MP submitted the appeal
again barring the secretariat from proceeding with the session.
The development came after revocation of the High Court stop order
and subsequent request by MP Chenge for the court to allow him to appeal
its decision with the High Court.
“Allow me to go to the High Court to file an appeal on this matter
because I think your team has not gone through the court’s order
carefully,” Chenge requested.
“Let him go because he is not satisfied with the judgment,” said
Judge Msami and ordered the secretariat to wait for High Court ruling.
“The High Court has superior powers to that of the secretariat…we
cannot proceed with the questioning until the ruling is out,” said the
retired Judge.
“Let us wait…if the appeal is accepted, Chenge will not be questioned,” he declared.
Earlier, Judge Msumi had said the High Court’s order cannot stop the secretariat from questioning the former Attorney General.
As for the Former Minister of Lands, Housing and Human Settlements
Development Anna Tibaijuka, the Ethics Secretariat concluded that they
will review all presented submissions for and against her case and send
recommendations to President Jakaya Kikwete for final judgment.
Nonetheless, in her defense, Professor Tibaijuka denied all
allegations levied against her purporting that she received 1.6bn/- from
VIP Engineering and Marketing owned by James Rugemarila from Mkombozi
Bank.
She was represented by Dr Rugemarila Ishara who asked the
secretariat to differentiate between a gift and contribution and queried
as whether there is a specific law denying a civil servant from
contributing to civil society organisations.
In the unfolding of the saga, the accused former minister has
maintained that the money given to her was for the Barbro Johansson
Model Girls' Secondary School in Dar es Salaam and to which she is the
founding trustee.
To that, Kipacha responded that it is against the ethics for a
civil servant to receive or ask for any contribution on behalf of a
third party.
“From our investigations, we found that Tibaijuka wrote a letter
to James Rugemarila asking for the contribution…this is against the laws
that govern civil servants,” Kipacha said.
In her own defense, Tibaijuka denied the accusation saying that the
money received was not meant for her but for the school and that
Rugemarila is the one who asked her to open an account at the Mkombozi
bank despite the fact that she had already given him the school’s
account number.
“I followed his instructions and immediately opened an account where I found almost 1.6bn/- deposited,” she said.
She went on to explain that the subsequent withdrawal of the money
was not for her personal use rather to settle a debt to Mkono bank which
the school owed 2bn/- which they borrowed for constructing of the
school’s infrastructures.
According to her, the money paid to Mkono bank was 1.5bn/- and the other 275m/- remained in the school’s account.
“I want to know the full meaning of ethics because it bugles my
mind as to what exactly I have done wrong,” she said and maintained that
“…I am a very simple person who struggles on behalf of others…I have
nothing to hide from the secretariat.”
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