Deal signed to expose looters

Dar es Salaam. The government has now secured legal help to identify those Tanzanians who have illegally stashed away ‘black money’ in Swiss banks.

A treaty signed between Tanzania and Switzerland on Friday will give local authorities access to information on locals who have deposited their money with Swiss banks, The Citizen can reveal.

The Swiss ambassador to Tanzania, Ms Florence Tinguely Mattli, has told this paper that the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) means the two governments will share intelligence on economic crime.

“This morning (Friday) together with the (Tanzanian) foreign minister we signed an agreement which will ensure that our countries are moving forward in the war against corrupt practices,” Ms Mattli told The Citizen in ann interview.

Tanzanian authorities have for years now been suffering legal hurdles in their attempt to investigate cases of ill-gotten money hidden in Swiss banks.

In 2015, a report by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists revealed that 99 Tanzanians had stashed away $114 million (over Sh200 billion) in 286 accounts in just one bank, the HSBC, in Geneva, Switzerland.

According to information availed by the Consortium, two accounts were opened in 1988; two to five more were subsequently opened each year until 2000. Over 20 accounts were opened between 2000. Almost the same number of accounts were then opened each year up to 2006 and beyond. Sixty accounts were linked to individuals, 20 to offshore companies and 20 others just numbered.

The revelations raised a storm in the country with some lawmakers, led by Kigoma Urban MP Zitto Kabwe demanding action from the government to publish the names of Tanzanians who had their money hidden in illicit bank accounts in Switzerland and elsewhere.

At a get-together to mark the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Switzerland and Tanzania on Friday, Ms Mattli said under the agreement, her government was obliged to release information on holders of illicit bank accounts upon request. However, Foreign Affairs minister Augustino Mahiga would not say when the government would officially ask for that information.

“I don’t know when but at least we have signed the agreement, hopefully the government will start working on it,” he said. The minister hailed the signing of the MoU as an important development in the government’s efforts to track down ill-gotten wealth hidden abroad.

He said in the past it was difficult for Tanzanian authorities to monitor money deposited in Swiss banks because there was no legal agreement between the two countries. “We have had an enormous relationship with this country and today we have made another historic achievement,” Dr Mahiga said, “The MoU we just signed means so much to our country.”

He said there was reason to believe that some Tanzanians stashed billions of shillings stolen from public coffers in Swiss bank accounts.

The Swiss ambassador noted that for 50 years now, the two countries had forged a stronger partnership in politics and economic development.

Ms Mattli said Switzerland would continue working with Tanzania to create an equal society, support economic growth that is inclusive of all citizens, and reduce poverty in poor regions through the three key sectors of health, employment and income, and governance.

Meanwhile, the Swiss ambassador on Friday re-launched a book titled: ‘A Concise Study of Contemporary Art in Tanzania’.

She said it was an expression of the long-standing friendship between the two countries and their people.