Graft scandal: Tanzania’s energy minister resigns
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DARES SALAAM:
Tanzania’s Energy and Minerals Minister Sospeter Muhongo resigned on Saturday amid a graft scandal that has rocked the gas-rich country and led western donors to delay aid. He became the third cabinet member, after the attorney general and the minister for land, to lose his job over the scandal, which involves the transfer of at least $122 million. The scandal erupted last November when lawmakers concluded that senior government officials had fraudulently authorised the transfer of public funds to a private company. The funds came from an escrow account held jointly by state power company Tanesco and independent power producer IPTL and went to IPTL’s owner, Pan Africa Power (PAP), in 2013.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 25th, 2015.
Tanzania’s Energy and Minerals Minister Sospeter Muhongo resigned on Saturday amid a graft scandal that has rocked the gas-rich country and led western donors to delay aid. He became the third cabinet member, after the attorney general and the minister for land, to lose his job over the scandal, which involves the transfer of at least $122 million. The scandal erupted last November when lawmakers concluded that senior government officials had fraudulently authorised the transfer of public funds to a private company. The funds came from an escrow account held jointly by state power company Tanesco and independent power producer IPTL and went to IPTL’s owner, Pan Africa Power (PAP), in 2013.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 25th, 2015.