Pinda vague on if he will resign

As debates on the Tegeta escrow account saga continues to heat up in parliament, prime minister Mizengo Pinda yesterday resorted to circumvent the question as whether he is ready to resign over the scandal or not.

Instead, Pinda cautiously called for patience, saying the ongoing parliamentary debate on the scandal will come up with recommendations on the way forward.

The straight forward question which put the prime minister on the defensive was raised by the leader of the official opposition in parliament, Freeman Mbowe during the questions and answers to the prime minister session.

Sounding his question to the Prime Minister, Mbowe said: “Under your leadership we have seen a lot of scandals such as operation Tokomeza, Kiteto killings and now the Tegeta escrow account saga, so why shouldn’t you resign to pave the way for others to take the lead?”

Responding to Mbowe’s question, Pinda said he had no reason to answer to Mbowe’s question because the Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has already tabled its recommendations and the debate is on.

“This issue is a matter of debate, let’s wait for the discussions, the parliament will come up with recommendations on what should be the way forward,” he said.

Pinda further said that resignation is not a new issue, “people should just wait for the debate because it will bring resolutions on the scam.”

Reading PAC’s recommendations here on Wednesday, the committee’s vice chairperson, Deo Filikunjombe said Pinda should resign for his failure to handle the whole scam on the Tegeta escrow account.

The committee said the PM had repeatedly declared in the National Assembly that contrary to popular belief, the money in the account belonged to Independent Power Tanzania Limited (IPTL) and not taxpayers –meaning the government.

According to the committee, that was enough proof the PM had failed to execute to satisfaction his constitutional duties of overseeing government business.

Responding to another question put forward by Habib Mnyaa, (Mkanyageni, CUF) who had wanted to know reasons as to why Zanzibar hasn’t received its donor support, Pinda said he was not aware of the issue but would work on it.

“Since the donors have refused to disburse a portion of their support to the government due to this scam, the Zanzibar government has failed to get its portion which is 4.5percent though it is not at all involved. What’s your statement on this?” queried Mnyaa.

Pinda said it might be true that they are affected with the situation, but he had not communicated with the authorities on the matter.

The Premiere said they will have discussions with the revolutionary government of Zanzibar to see how to address the problem.

Responding to another question from Murtaza Mangungu (Kilwa North, CCM) on an increased traffic jam in Dar es Salaam, Pinda said the government is aware and would work on it.

The MP said Tanzania is losing 4bn/- daily due to traffic jam in major cities, hence asked the government to come up with a statement on the issue.

Reacting to Mangungu’s question, Pinda admitted that there is a problem but its solution needs joint collaboration between various stakeholders in the community. “We have to involve various stakeholders to address this challenge and ensure that traffic laws and regulations are adhered to,” he said.

Tabling his 1.2trn/- budget speech in the National Assembly, mid this year, minister for Works, Dr John Magufuli announced that his ministry would spend 28bn/- to tackle traffic jam in Dar es Salaam city during the 2014/15 financial year.

By then, he said, at least 109 kilometres would be paved in a project to cover all feeder roads that would enable residents reach their destinations without using the main roads.

He said the projects under implementation include the construction of a flyover at Tazara-Ubungo-Kamata junction and upgrading dozens of interchange roads, noting that the flyover will be 1.2km long. 

According to the minister, Dar es Salaam will be a congestion-free city by 2018 when the grand road infrastructure networks currently on construction are completed.