State firms owe TTCL Sh9.3bn in unpaid bills

TTCL chief executive officer Kamugisha Kazaura

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TTCL chief executive officer Kamugisha Kazaura told members of the Parliamentary Committee on Infrastructure that unpaid telephone bills had crippled operations at the parastatal.

Dodoma. Nine State-run institutions owe the Tanzania Telecommunication Company Limited (TTCL) a total of Sh9.3 billion, a parliamentary committee was told Wednesday.

TTCL chief executive officer Kamugisha Kazaura told members of the Parliamentary Committee on Infrastructure that unpaid telephone bills had crippled operations at the parastatal.

According to Mr Kazaura, the Police Force owes TTCL Sh2.7 billion while the President’s Office (Regional Administration and Local Governments) has an unsettled Sh1.4 billion bill.

The list of debtors also includes the Tanzania National Roads Agency (Tanroads), which has not paid Sh870,000, Ministry of Finance (Sh371 million) and the National Identification Authority with a Sh335 million debt.

The Immigration Department has not paid TTCL Sh332 million while the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology owes the struggling parastatal Sh209 million.

Air Tanzania Corporation Limited (ATCL) has a Sh178 million debt while the Tanzania Railway Corporation Limited has yet to settle Sh179 million. “We have tried our level best to collect the money in vain…some of the entities have opted to seek services from other local telecommunication services providers,” he said.  

A member of the committee, former Home Affairs minister Charles Kitwanga said: “The government must force institutions that owe TTCL to immediately pay up their debts.”

However, Mr Kitwanga expressed concern that TTCL has only 800,000 active customers in a country with a population of about 49 million people.