Former TPA Boss, Ephraim Mgawe BY OUR REPORTER DAR ES SALAAM - Former Tanzania Ports Authority director general Ephraim Mgawe was yesterday charged with abuse office. Mr Mgawe, who was suspended in January 2013 by Transport minister Harrison Mwakyembe, was charged along with his former deputy, Mr Hamad Koshuma, who was in charge of port services. The former TPA executives were escorted into the Kisutu Resident Magistrate’s Court by officials from the Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau (PCCB). They were accused of abusing their authority by irregularly awarding a multi-billion-shilling tender to China Communication Construction Company Limited for construction of berths at Dar es Salaam port. The court heard that Mr Mgawe and Mr Koshuma conspired and awarded the controversial tender for construction of berths 13 and 14 at the facility to the foreign company at a reported cost of $600 million, contrary to public procurement laws. The accused, who looked composed as the charges were read out, denied all counts before Principal Resident Magistrate Arufani Isaya. The prosecution, led by Senior State Attorney Osward Tibabyekomya and Mr Ben Lincoln from PCCB, told the court that the accused abused their positions by signing a commercial contract with the Chinese firm. The court further heard that the contract was signed without a competitive tender having been floated as required by the law. The prosecution also said the manner of the tender award was intended to obtain undue advantage for the said Chinese company. They were charged under Section 31 of the PCCB Act Number 11 of 2007, but denied the offence when asked to enter pleas. Their lawyer, Mr Samson Mbamba, asked the court to grant bail to his clients since the offence was bailable. Mr Isaya ordered each accused to sign a bond of Sh2 million and to secure two reliable sureties who would each sign a similar bond. The accused met the conditions and were released until August 13 when the case will come up for another mention. The accused and four other senior officials were suspended in January 2013 over allegations of abuse of office and theft of oil and containers at Dar es Salaam port. Follow us: @eaofficialpage on Twitter | eaofficialmag on Facebook | @eaofficialpage on Instagram
Posted on: Wed, 16 Jul 2014 04:22:32 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015