DPP drops Mahalu case

The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) has dropped an appeal against the acquittal of former Tanzanian ambassador to Italy Prof Costa Ricky Mahalu, who faced charges to do with the Sh 2.5 billion loss in the alleged bogus sale of Tanzania’s embassy in Rome.

The new development comes just a month after President Jakaya Kikwete appointed Prof Mahalu a member of the Constituent Assembly currently sitting in Dodoma to craft the country’s new constitution. President Kikwete nominated him on the religious organisations ticket.

Asked recently about the move, DPP Eliezer Feleshi told The Citizen on Saturday that he would not comment on a matter in court. “Let’s wait for due process to take place,” he added. “I can’t, therefore, tell you anything for now.”

Prof Mahalu, who is held in high esteem in political and legal circles, was assigned a key role in the rewriting of the constitution when he was appointed the chair of a committee charged with drawing up the CA’s Standing Orders.

The DPP wrote to the High Court last month declaring that he no longer had an interest in pursuing the matter. In August 2012, the Kisutu Resident Magistrate’s Court acquitted Prof Mahalu of charges of defrauding the government of the money after a five-year trial that attracted intense public interest.

Prof Mahalu was among the first senior government officials to be dragged to court after President Kikwete took office in 2005 in what was patently a campaign to demonstrate to the anti-corruption brigade that he was serious about taming the vice.

The prosecution had alleged that the former diplomat used forged documents to mislead the government into buying the embassy building at a highly inflated price. After a trial that lasted five years, though, Resident Magistrate-in-Charge Ilvin Mugeta said the building was bought according to procedure and Prof Mahalu had permission to execute the transaction on the government’s behalf. He had been jointly charged with a former official at Tanzania’s embassy in Rome, Ms Grace Martin.

The DPP filed an appeal, however, on the grounds that the trial magistrate was wrong to conclude that Prof Mahalu committed no crime in signing two contracts for the purchase of the building. The magistrate erred in law by ignoring completely the prosecution’s evidence on conspiracy and the relevant legal principles in such cases, he added.

Section 91 (1) of the Criminal Procedure Act gives the DPP powers to enter a nolle prosequi by informing a court in writing that the proceedings would be dropped.

According to the Act, the DPP should not be subject to the directions or control of anyone but the president in opting to enter a nolle prosequi. The Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau (PCCB) arraigned the former envoy in 2007. According to PCCB, the investigation in Rome showed the two contracts were deliberately prepared to swindle the government.

The first contract says the sale price of the chancery was Euro 1,032,913 and the second put it at Euro 3,098,741.

It was further alleged that the procedures of acquiring the building were flagrantly flawed.

Former President Benjamin Mkapa, who officially opened the embassy building in 2003, became the first retired head of state to stand in the witness box in defence of an accused person. He was among seven witnesses for the former diplomat.

Mr Mkapa told the court that his government sanctioned the two contracts to purchase the building in the interests of the nation. He described Prof Mahalu as a man of impeccable character who was sincere, honest, obedient and hard working.

The Citizen Tanzania: