Mramba, Yona case postponed

Dar es Salaam. The Kisutu Resident Magistrate’s Court has adjourned to February 26 hearing of the abuse of office case against former cabinet ministers Basil Mramba and Daniel Yona.

Mr Mramba’s defence witnesses were due to testify yesterday, but proceedings were adjourned because of the absence of a member of the panel hearing the case, Mr Sam Rumanyika, who has lost his father.

Mr Mramba and Mr Yona, who served as Finance and Energy and Mineral ministers, respectively, under retired President Benjamin William Mkapa, were first arraigned in November 2008 along with former Treasury Permanent Secretary Gray Mgonja.

They allegedly occasioned the government a Sh11.7 billion loss through the irregular hiring of an auditing firm, Alex Stewart Assayers.

They were charged after three years of investigations by the Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau (PCCB) and police into the hiring of the firm to audit gold production in Tanzania.

The firm was in 2003 controversially assigned through a contract that saw it receive a whopping Sh65 billion ($50 million) in gold audit fees. It completed the assignment and left the country in August 2007.

It was allegedly paid an average of Sh1.3 billion ($1 million) every month from June 2003 to August 2007.

THE CITIZEN TANZANIA: