Tanzania: DECI owes its members over 39.2bn/-

DIRECTORS of the defunct Development Entrepreneurship for Community Initiative (DECI) owe its members 39.27bn/ while there is only 14.81bn/- in their bank accounts.

This was revealed in the National Assembly on Wednesday by the Deputy Minister for Finance and Economic Affairs Mr Gregory Teu when answering a question by Ms Halima Mdee (Kawe-CHADEMA)

The legislator had wanted to know the fate of DECI members whose money is still held by the government.

The government has not taken the money which amounts to 14.81bn/- from DECI. The money is being held in accounts of the directors in various banks in the country.

The deputy minister noted that the decision to hold the money was made by the Attorney General as part of the investigations on DECI which operated a pyramid scheme.

''I would like to inform the House that the court case against DECI was opened on June 12, 2009 and is still pending at the Kisutu Resident Magistrate's Court,'' Mr Teu said.

He said the fate of DECI members would be known after disposal of the case. DECI had 40 branches in 18 districts on Tanzania mainland.

The scheme had 649,859 members and some of them would testify before the court as witnesses in the case, he explained.

According to Mr Teu, witnesses from Dar es Salaam have already testified before the court and that efforts were underway to get others from upcountry.

However, the deputy minister failed to answer a supplementary question raised by Ms Mdee despite the Speaker's insistence.

The legislator further wanted to know measures taken against negligent government officials who failed to detect DECI operations early to avoid the mess.

Despite the Speaker's intervention that the deputy minister should answer the question, Mr Teu maintained that it was unlawful to answer the question because the matter was still pending in the court of law.

Meanwhile, the government will pay all debts which the Tanzania People's Defence Force (TPDF) owes utility companies.

The Minister for Defence and National Service, Dr Hussein Mwinyi, told the National Assembly on Wednesday that Treasury had already verified the debts to be settled later this year.

''The problem is not only in Mtwara but in many parts of the country where TPDF owes utility companies," he said.

The minister was responding to Ms Anastazia Wambura (Special Seats - CCM) who had sought to know when TPDF would settle its debt with the Mtwara Water and Sewerage Authority.

TPDF owes the company over 84.5m/- and TANESCO has also threatened to disconnect power supply to the army because of an outstanding debt amounting to millions of shillings.