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| Mr Maige |
Natural Resources and Tourism minister Ezekiel Maige yesterday denied
reports that he acquired a posh house in Dar es Salaam’s upmarket Mbezi Beach
area through corruption.
Mr Maige told The Citizen in an exclusive interview that he bought the
house on Plot 2001-2002 Block E for US$410,000 (about 656m/-).
Media reports this week said the minister bought the one-storey house
for $700,000 (about 1.1bn/-).
Mr Maige said he obtained two loans – of 184m/- and $200,000
(320m/-) – from CRDB Bank.
Showing this reporter the loan acquisition and house purchase
documents, the minister said the market price of the home sold to him by
Savanna Real Estate, was $450,000, but he bought it for $410,000.
According to loan documents made available to this newspaper by Mr
Maige, he began servicing the second loan in January, this year, and will repay
it over 48 months to December 2015 at a monthly rate of $5,127 per month (8,203,200/-).
He said this was well within his means since he has income generating
businesses. “I secured the $200,000 loan from CRDB Bank after using my house
worth $410,000 as collateral and surrendering the title deed to the bank,” Mr
Maige said.
Mr Maige said he found it easy to buy a new house rather than build a
new one. He said he had declared all his property with the Secretariat for
Leadership Ethics Commission, and showed copies of his declaration forms.
Mr Maige, who also declared to have shares in MEM Logistic Company
which is run by his wife, said the company deals with cargo transportation to
the Democratic Republic of Congo.
He said for the time being he has two trucks which earn him about
$20,000 per month.He said he created the transportation firm after he had acquired a loan
through Parliament in 2005.
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| Maige's house |
Without mentioning the names of ‘his enemies’ but categorically
indicating that they are among members of the Parliamentary Committee
responsible for Lands, Natural Resources and Environment, he said some of the
them have been agents of the hunting block deals in collaboration with some
officials at the ministry.
Reached for comment yesterday, an agent for the minister’s house Mr
Athuman alias Ustaadhi said Maige bought one of the four apartments which was
put on business some months ago now.
He could not shed more light on how the minister acquired the house,
but distanced himself from the saga. On Monday, Parliament asked the government
to discipline Mr Maige following corruption and ineptitude accusations by some
staff under his watch.
A report of the Parliamentary committee on Lands, Natural Resources and
Environment revealed disorder in hunting blocks allocation and inappropriate
issuance of permits and licences to hunt and export wildlife.
Source: The Citizen,http://www.thecitizen.co.tz, reported by Mkinga Mkinga
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