Prosecution closes Suma JKT abuse of office case

A PROSECUTION witness, Vangsada Mkalimoto, was up in arms when called to account why he did not interrogate President Jakaya Kikwete over the conduct of seven senior army officials, charged with abuse of office during execution of road construction contract.

“You cannot just rush to interrogate the President simply because he if the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces. There are steps to follow before reaching him,” Mr Mkalimoto, an investigator with the Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau (PCCB) said in a vividly disturbed mood.

The witness was responding to a question by the defence advocate, Majura Magafu, when testifying in the trial of seven top officials with Suma JKT at the Kisutu Resident Magistrate’s Court in Dar es Salaam.

“If there is anything, there is the Minister for Defence, Chief of Defence Forces and in this case, the Head of National Service,” the witness told Senior Resident Magistrate Aloyce Katemana.

Led by a PCCB Prosecutor, Lizy Kiwia, the witness explained that in the case at hand, he had interrogated the Chief of the National Service, Major General Samuel Kitundu, now retired, who said that Suma JKT was a public organisation and was required to follow the Procurement Act when purchasing materials.

“Our investigation, therefore, showed that the accused persons when purchasing construction materials for implementation of a road contract did not follow the law.

They bought used construction materials contrary to the law,” the witness further told the court. In the case, the accused are Col Ayoub Mwakang’ata, Lt Col Paul Andrew Mayavi, Lt Col Mkohi Chacha Kichogo, Lt Col Felix Andrew Samillan, Maj Yohana Leonard Nyuchi, Maj Peter Mabula Lushika and Sgt John Andrew Laizer.

They are charged with abuse of their positions during execution of Msata-Bagamoyo Road by Takopa Construction Company, whose shareholders were Suma JKT and a foreign partner, Chung Moo from Korea at a cost of 12bn/-.

The Company had signed the contract with Tanzania National Road Agency. It is alleged that between March 5 and 12, 2009, all accused persons abused their positions by passing resolutions authorizing Suma JKT Tender Board to act as Takopa Construction tender board and procured used motor vehicles and construction equipments, without authority and following the rules.

The prosecution claims further that between March 16 and May 4, 2009, Lt Col Samillan and Lt Col Kichogo abused their positions by transferring a total sum of 3,853,629,516/- from Takopa Construction Company Limited account to that of Suma JKT without observing the law.

During cross-examination by Advocate Magafu, for accused persons, the witness, however, admitted that Takopa was a private company and the money used to implement the project belongs to the company in question. The witness further admitted that since Takopa was a private company, it was not obliged to follow the Procurement Act.

After the conclusion of the witness’s testimony, the prosecution closed its case after calling ten witnesses in the matter. The magistrate adjourned the case to February 5, when he will deliver his ruling on whether or not the accused have a case to answer.

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