The outspoken MP demanded in Parliament that the committee should launch investigation into the UK based Standard ICBC and Stanbic Tanzania to obtain the entire truth on the matter. Reports say the hefty bribe facilitated the purchase of $600 million (Sh1.2 trillion) treasury bonds in 2013 by the UK based Standard Bank.
Debating the budget estimates for the Ministry of State in the President’s Office (Good Governance and Public Service Management), Mr Kabwe argued that on March 8, 2013, the government took an external loan facility of USD 600 million (about 1.2tri/-) by the help of UK’s Standard Bank, now known as Standard Bank ICIC plc, adding that if the government is implementing the contract, the government started servicing the loan in March 2016.
According to the Kigoma Urban legislator, the loan was marred by serious corruption allegations that have landed some officials in court.
The MP presented a letter of Tanzanians living in the Diaspora who wrote to the Prevention and Combatting of Corruption Bureau (PCCB), demanding that the government launch investigations into the saga. However, he pointed out, PCCB used reports by UK’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO), which did not investigate the UK’s Standard Bank.
“Today, PCCB is being helped and advised by experts from UK while the bank that is implicated in this scam is from that country,’’ he noted adding that the corruption watchdog was afraid to charge the UK based bank because those giving advise on the matter were from UK.
For the objective truth to be known to Tanzanians and appropriate legal steps to be instituted against offenders, it was high time Parliament inject in section 120(2) to form an independent parliamentary select committee to investigate into the multi-million dollars scam.
Culled from Daily News
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