It’s business as usual for Mo’s empire

Dar es Salaam. It is business as usual for firms affiliated to the Mohammed Enterprises Tanzania Limited (MeTL) Group headed by Mr Mohammed Dewji, who was abducted on October 11.

This is despite earlier claims that the companies would close down to pave the way for thorough investigations into the abduction of the 43-year-old Dewji, Africa’s youngest dollar billionaire.

Eight days have passed since Mr Dewji was abducted by hitherto unknown persons. This was at around 5am on Thursday last week as he got out of his car in the Colosseum Hotel parking lot in Dar es Salaam where he had gone to for his regular morning exercises at the hotel’s gym.

There has since then been no breakthrough in the ongoing investigations into Mr Dewji’s whereabouts – or the reason(s) for his abduction.

This is despite intensive investigations and enquiries by state security organs, as well as a widely publicised offer by his family and close relatives of the relatively hefty reward of Sh1 billion to anyone who could provide information that would lead to finding Mr Dewji alive, well and kicking.

Yesterday, various social media outlets were awash with reports that factories which operate under the MeTL Group would cease production pending an outcome of the ongoing investigations intended to locate and free Mr Dewji, the Group’s chief executive officer (CEO).

A random survey by The Citizen of some MeTL Group companies revealed that it was business as usual. The visited establishments were A-One Products & Bottlers Limited and 21st Century Food and Packaging Limited, as well as two warehouses located in the Mbagala industrial area of Dar es Salaam.

“We have been reading such reports in the social media… The top management team has not communicated to us regarding the reports,” said an official at the 21st Century Food and Packaging – doing so on condition of anonymity on grounds that he is not the company’s official spokesperson. The official added: “Our production has not been affected in any way – despite the fact that our employees are really concerned about our Group Chief Executive Officer having gone missing under mysterious, painful circumstances.”

The MeTL Group also refuted claims of production stoppage via its official Twitter page.

“We are baffled by what happened to our company’s CEO, Mohammed Dewji. We would also like to inform the public that the information circulating in social media platforms purporting that we will cease production on October 20 in all our factories is untrue,” the Group twitted.

But The Citizen was given the opportunity to go around the production areas at the A-One Product & Bottlers where we saw production activities taking place as a matter of course.

However, the employees would not speak to The Citizen, busying themselves at their production stations.

Meanwhile, the search for Mr Dewji continues, with the latest information from the Dar es Salaam Special Police Zone showing that at least 26 people had been interrogated in connection with the abduction. However, 19 of them have already been released on bond.

The abduction has seen to a number of people – including the shadow Home Affairs Minister, Mr Godbless Lema – call for involvement of independent investigators into the abduction in efforts to solve the riddle soonest.

However, the government has continued to maintain that it has the ability and capability of effectively doing the job.

Mr Dewji’s father, Gulamabbas Dewji, says the family is quite comfortable with what is being done by the authorities regarding the abduction, and that he has full trust in Tanzania’s security organs.

The Director of Criminal Investigations (DCI), Robert Boaz, said the police have been making significant progress in their investigations.