Basil Mramba and Daniel Yona's 65bn/- case postponed again

The Kisutu Resident Magistrate’s Court yesterday pledged to hear the 65bn/- case facing former finance minister Basil Mramba and two others before year’s end adjourning it to December 13, this year.

In the high profile donned case, Mramba is charged along with Daniel Yona, who served as Energy and Minerals minister in third phase of Benjamin Mkapa, and former Treasury permanent secretary Gray Mgonja.

They are alleged to have illegally granted tax exemptions to Alex Stewart Assayers, a company hired to audit gold production, occasioning the government to suffer a 11.7bn/- loss.

Principal Resident Magistrate Halufani Isaya postponed the hearing after Defence Advocate Eiesa Msuya claimed to the court that one of the accused, former Energy and Minerals minister, Yona is still in India attending his medical treatment.

The prosecution led by senior prosecution Oswald Tibabyekomya told the court that the case had come for the defence side to continue with their testimonials but defence advocate Msuya requested the court to set another date for mention because the accused Yona is sick and still in India 

”This is one of those cases which have taken over two years and that the Chief justice and Principal judge ordered be heard if possible this year,” the Principal Resident Magistrate said. 

On October 8, this year, the court gave permit to the accused Yona to go to India for treatment after he asked permission to do so. 

During his mitigation, Mramba told the court that the process of granting tax exemption to Alex Stewart Assayers was done in accordance with the laws of the land.

He added that he did so to fulfill a clause in the contract that the Bank of Tanzania (BoT) had entered with Alex Stewart that the latter be granted tax exemption.

“We saw and advised that the best way was to grant tax exemption because if the company took the payment with tax charged, it would take more money...this is according to the law and contract,” insisted Mramba.

Their case followed three years of investigations by the Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau (PCCB) and the Police into the suspicious hiring of Alex Stewart (Assayers) Government Business Corporation (ASA) to audit gold production in Tanzania. 

The firm was in 2003 controversially assigned through a contract, which saw it receive a whopping 65bn/- ($50 million) in gold audit fees. It completed the assignment and left the country in August 2007. 

SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN