ACT wants Sh1.5tr expenditure probed

Dar es Salaam. Opposition party ACT-Wazalendo said on Thursday that it had written to the Speaker of the National Assembly demanding a further probe into how Sh1.5 trillion was spent.

The move followed a report by the Controller and Auditor General (CAG), Prof Mussa Assad, for the 2016/17 period that, questioned the expenditure.

But in a quick rejoinder, the Clerk of the National Assembly, Mr Stephen Kagaigai, said the letter had until yesterday not yet reached his office.

ACT-Wazalendo secretary for Ideology, Public Communications and Publicity, Mr Ado Shaibu, said the party wrote a letter to the Speaker, Mr Job Ndugai, demanding further investigation into how the government spent the money.

“ACT-Wazalendo national chairman Yeremia Maganja has asked Mr Ndugai (Speaker) to allow the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) to direct the CAG to carry out a specific audit on Sh1.5 trillion,” reads part of the statement availed to The Citizen.

The statement further reads: “This is a huge amount of money, which is enough to provide Sh100 million to at least 15,000 villages in the country. It is also enough to issue all university students with loans for four years.”

According to him, the money was also enough to build 10 hospitals that could rival the Muhimbili National Hospital (Mloganzija branch).

On Sunday, the party, based on the CAG findings, questioned the whereabouts of Sh1.5 trillion out of Sh25.3 trillion collected in the 2016/17 fiscal year.

The move forced CCM Ideology And Publicity Secretary Humphrey Polepole to come out and dispute the claim.

Mr Polepole told the media on Wednesday that the Sh25.3 trillion audited by the CAG involved the government’s raw revenue, Sh203.92 billion owned by the Zanzibar government and Sh687.3 billion receivables.

He claimed that the opposition party was misleading the public.