Who will bell the cat?
That must be the big question now in
Dodoma, for Parliament is faced with the unenviable task of dealing with the
very committee that it had assigned to probe corruption within its ranks.
Why,
the probe committee has also been accused of corruption.
On Saturday the Speaker of the National Assembly, Ms Anne
Makinda, dissolved the Parliamentary Committee on Energy and Minerals and
ordered the conduct of some of its members be probed by the committee for
Privileges, Ethics, and Powers (PEP).
But yesterday Mr James Mbatia (NCCR-Mageuzi) added a twist
to the saga when he claimed that some members of the Privileges, Ethics, and
Powers Committee, were also among those who have been taking bribes, the same
vice that brought down the Energy committee.
Mr Mbatia said that if the investigation into the Energy
committee’s alleged vices is to be meaningful, some PEP members should also
step down and be subjected to scrutiny as well.
“My party is not ready to see PEP investigate the matter
before suspending some of its members who have also been named as corrupt.
There is a need for the committee to clean itself first before it embarks on
investigating the rot in the Energy and Minerals committee.
“We have evidence that some members of the Parliamentary
Committee for Privileges, Ethics and Powers are among lawmakers who have
business interests with Tanesco and are linked to the dirt in the power firm
and therefore we cannot have faith in its findings until the suspects amongst
them are removed,” insisted Mr Mbatia.
Commenting on the Speaker’s decision to dissolve the Energy
committee, Mr Mbatia said he doesn’t see why there should be concealment of the
names of suspect MPs and other committees that are linked with graft at
Tanesco.
Meanwhile, Mr Mbatia said the shake-up should not end with
the Energy committee since, he alleged, there were about six others that are
accused of teaming with Tanesco and some private oil companies to sabotage the
government.
“We are aware that there are more parliamentary committees
involved in this scam, we want the Speaker to dissolve them all so that we can
have a fresh start,” said Mr Mbatia.
Mr Mbatia, who doubles as NCCR-Mageuzi national chairman,
said all MPs linked to the rot should not wait to be named in the Parliament.
“They should resign their posts... We have several examples
from UK and India where MPs resigned after they were named in certain
scams; in this House during Pius
Msekwa’s tenure as Speaker, four CUF legislators were forced to go after they
were found guilty of forging passports and marriage certificates for some
Somali women,” recalled Mr Mbatia.
The nominated MP wanted the Parliament to take legal
measures against the accused lawmakers by using the Parliamentary Powers,
Privileges and Immunities Act of 1988, which requires an MP convicted of
corruption to be jailed for five years and be removed from his or her post.
On
the other hand, the former chairman for the dissolved Energy and Minerals
Committee, Mr Jumanne Zedi, said he was shocked by the Speaker’s move and that
his committee would fully cooperate with the investigating committee.
Mr Zedi told The Citizen that the he was confident the
investigation would reveal the truth behind the matter.
“I was shocked by the Speaker’s decision to dissolve my
committee, but we welcome the idea to have the Ethics committee investigate us
and publish their findings,” said Mr Zedi.
Another committee member, Mr David Silinde (Mbozi
West-Chadema) hailed the decision, saying it was for the benefit of the
Parliament and the entire country that tainted lawmakers be investigated and
penalised if found guilty. He said it was better that the issue has been handed
over to the PEP for as there were a number of controversies that need to be
cleared.
According to Mr Silinde, the committee’s opinion, which was
presented last Friday during the tabling of the Energy ministry’s budget, was
not the same as issues that were discussed and agreed by the MPs when they were
debating the budget.
“I support the dissolution of our committee; I think the
investigation will clear the air. I was shocked to see the committee’s opinion
presented in the Parliament with additional comments that had not been
discussed during our meetings,” said Mr Silinde.
For his part, Mr Moses Machali (Kasulu Urban, NCCR-Mageuzi) said the Speaker’s decision to
dissolve the Energy committee would go a long way in cleansing the House
tainted with graft allegations and other forms of misconduct.
He demanded that the Speaker names the suspects. Failure to
that, he charged, after seven days he would move a private member’s motion
seeking the Parliament to suspend other activities so as to discuss the issue
in depth.
On the other hand, Mr Luhaga Mpina (Kisesa - CCM) also
commended the Speaker’s decision saying the measure would help in regaining the
Parliament’s tattered image.
Source: The Citizen,http://www.thecitizen.co.tz/, reported by Florence Mugarula,
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