Why JPM dissolved NHC board, sacked Mchechu

Dar es Salaam. The chairperson of the Board of Directors of the National Housing Corporation (NHC), Ms Blandina Nyoni, and the entire board were dismissed because they failed to oversee and stop gross misconducts by the management of the State-run real estate agency, The Citizen has learnt.

The findings of a report of a committee that was set up to inquire the conduct of former NHC boss Nehemiah Mchechu, that was presided by Ms Nyoni herself, are said to be ‘shocking’ and could lead to even more sackings at the NHC.

Lands minister William Lukuvi announced in December that he was suspending Mr Mchechu to pave the way for investigations into various allegations which include abuse of office. Mr Lukuvi then tasked the NHC board of directors under the leadership of Ms Nyoni to conduct the investigations and handover the report to him.

Two weeks ago, Mr Lukuvi told The Citizen that the report has already been handed over to him but he could not divulge details because the time was not ripe for it to be made public. “The board has investigated everything. We are analysing the findings before we announce the next cause of action,” he said.

However, sources privy to the investigation told The Citizen that the report, which is technically supposed to be handed over to Mr Lukuvi, has already reached President John Magufuli and Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa.

The sources added that the sacking of Ms Nyoni is the first in a series of stern actions facing several NHC top officials and other public servants. “The President has just signalled what will befall other officials…they have uncovered rot in the National Housing Corporation, only miracles that can exonerate these officials,” one of the sources said.

The sources also revealed that the committee formed to investigate abuse of office in the NHC traced gross misconduct and massive abuse of public funds by Mr Mchechu.

President Magufuli triggered what culminated into the formation of the committee that investigated Mr Mchechu when he expressed his discomfort with the way both the management and the board of NHC were misspending funds. He was officially launching the Iyumbu Satellite City in Dodoma last December.

At the event, Mr Mchechu sought government’s ‘guarantee’ to enable the NHC to borrow from commercial banks to speed up implementation of its various multibillion housing projects.

Apparently irked by the request, President Magufuli shot down Mchechu’s plea and stated categorically that “my government would never approve a loan guarantee when I know that the money wouldn’t be spent properly.”

“Initially we gave you a bank guarantee of Sh360 billion but you started conducting board meetings in Dubai. Why should we issue more guarantees,” President Magufuli charged. And yesterday, the deputy director general of Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau (PCCB) John Mbung’o confirmed to have questioned Mr Mchechu and other NHC senior officials over various allegations and handed over his report to the Prime Minister.

Issues Mchechu is being investigated for

Sources told The Citizen that Mr Mchechu was being investigated by the board and questioned by PCCB over possible conflict of interest during the search and acquisition of a 500-acre land for development of Arusha’s NHC Safari City Project.

The land on which the project stands was initially bought by a company, reportedly, owned by Mr Mchechu from a foreigner who had failed to develop it. Mr Mchechu is then said to have sold the land to NHC at inflated rates, the investigation found, the sources added.

He was also being investigated for, allegedly, using a contractor hired by NHC to prepare access roads on his private land that is close to the Safari City project using NHC funds.

In fact, at Iyumbu last December President Magufuli accused Mr Mchechu, in public, of conflict of interest through using his company to do business with NHC. He also warned the board of directors that if it continued underperforming, then he would dismiss it.

“Mr Mchechu, I know some members of the board are being used to fight you… but your ‘shortcomings’ are also to blame like owning a real estate company and yet you are the boss of NHC or buying land for construction of houses using fake names but when we investigate we find you are the owner of the land…” President Magufuli charged.

Mr Mchechu was suspended three days later.

Sources say Mr Mchechu was also questioned for breach of public procurement regulations when he assigned a $3.5 million contract for carrying out a detailed design of Kawe project to a Dubai-based firm, PHILS International. The decision was, allegedly, made by Mr Mchechu without involving NHC’s head of Procurement Unit, Mr Hamis Mpinda. The latter has already been questioned by PCCB over the issue.

PHILS International, a firm manned by Tanzanians based in Dubai, which built Dubai Sports City, has also been awarded by NHC a tender to construct the Usa River Satellite City at a 1.17 million square metre block near the Kilimanjaro International Airport (KIA).

Investigators were also trying to establish allegations that a company of which Mr Mchechu’s wife is a director was given a contract to provide insurance covers for NHC houses in Mtwara contrary to public service rules on conflict of interest, sourced told The Citizen.

There are also reports that the National Audit Office had carried out a special audit on allegations that that the NHC has diverted the use of loans it has taken for property development project to other uses, sources added.“What they uncovered is that the debts are unsustainable,” one of the sources added.

The Citizen has learnt that the PCCB has handed over four case files of Mr Mchechu to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).