that a special court to try corruption and embezzlement of public funds cases would become operational in July, this year.
“This shows how the government is committed to fighting corruption,” the anti-graft czar said.
In January, this year, PCCB had completed investigations into 36 grand corruption cases.
In January, this year, PCCB had completed investigations into 36 grand corruption cases.
Mlowola, the former head of the anti-crime unit in the police force, vowed that he would fight grand and petty corruption at a pace the anti-graft body had hitherto never witnessed.
“The president has shown that he is serious when it comes to fighting corruption and we need to embrace his pace,” he said.
The PCCB chief’s elation came following an announcement by Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa in the National yesterday that an anti-corruption and economic sabotage special court, a new division of the High Court of Tanzania, was set to begin work by July, this year.
The much-talked-about and awaited special court to try corruption and economic sabotage suspects is in line with the new government’s resolve under President John Magufuli to declare total war against the vice.
Presenting his ministry’s budget estimates in the National Assembly yesterday, Prime Minister Majaliwa, without much elaboration, said already a division on corruption and embezzlement of public funds had been established at the High Court of Tanzania and it would officially become operational in July, 2016.
The new development was announced by the prime minister when tabling his office’s budget estimates for the financial year 2016/17. He outlined the government’s priority areas in the next financial year, insisting that war on corruption would be waged seriously without end.
According to government figures, during fiscal year 2015/16 a total of 3,911 corruption allegations were recorded and investigation into 324 cases were concluded.
Of the investigated cases, 252 were forwarded to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) who approved 156 cases for prosecution.
The Controller and Auditor General (CAG) also came up with 329 corruption allegations, 19 of which were probed and forwarded to the DPP, who subsequently approved 12 for prosecution.
The prime minister said that 8 files on grand corruption were forwarded to the DPP, two of which were approved for prosecution and the suspects had already been arraigned in court.
“There are 69 development projects worth Sh8 billion being implemented by local government authorities which were found with gross accounting anomalies,” the PM said, adding: “The government will continue investigating 3,444 corruption allegations and finalise investigation into 10 other grad corruption cases.”
Minister for Constitutional Affairs and Justice Dr Harrison Mwakyembe was earlier quoted by the media as saying that a taskforce comprising officials from the police force, Tanzania Intelligence and Security Service (TISS), Attorney General’s Office (AG) and the Director of Public Prosecution’s (DPP) had already met on the matter.
The minister, who is expected to table Bills in the National Assembly to enact laws to fight corruption, said some of the things to be addressed prior to the introduction of the special anti-graft court was operational costs.
The Guardian could not independently verify how the court would operate, but information from the office of the Chief Justice hinted that after a case was filed, there would be no delays as cases would be heard continuously.
In his speech when inaugurating the 11th Parliament last year, President Magufuli reiterated his promise made during his campaign that, if elected, he would form a special court to try graft cases.
However, the oversight parliamentary committee on constitutional affairs and justice expressed concerns over a limited budget for development, saying it would affect implementation of various programmes initiated by the ministry.
The prime minister requested parliament to endorse Sh236.8billion for his office for financial year 2016/17
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