| ATCL ex-CEO Mattaka charged | Send to a friend |
| Tuesday, 22 November 2011 22:47 |
 By The Citizen ReporterDar es Salaam. Former chief executive officer of the national carrier, Air Tanzania Company Limited (ATCL), Mr David Mattaka, yesterday appeared in a Dar es Salaam court charged with abuse of office. In addition, Mr Mattaka and two other senior officials of ATCL were charged with failure to properly keep records for the company and purchase of worn-out motor vehicles at a cost of Sh1 billion. Other officials who appeared before the Kisutu Resident Magistrate’s Court were the airline’s acting chief accountant, Elisaph Ikomba and the firm’s chief internal auditor, William Haji. The prosecution led by an official from the Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau (PCCB), Mr Ben Lincoln, told the court that the accused persons committed the offences between June and July in 2007. In the first charge that involved all the three accused persons, Mr Lincoln claimed that the three ATCL officials failed to keep tender records for the purchase of 26 worn out motor vehicles. The PCCB prosecutor further charged that the three ATCL officials jointly failed to observe regulations guiding public procurement between July 2 and August 23 in 2007. He said their failure to observe public procurement regulations led to the purchase of the 26 motor vehicles worth $809.3 million from a company called Dalmouk Motors Limited based in Dubai. In the third charge, the PCCB prosecutor told the court that between July 2 and August 2007 Mattaka acting as ATCL managing director abused his office by authorising the purchase of the vehicles without floating a tender. Mr Lincoln further charged that the former ATCL boss authorised the purchase of the vehicles without the knowledge of the firm’s tender board which was contrary to law. After the charges were read, state attorney Oswald Tibabyekonya, representing the government, said he had no objection to granting bail to the accused persons. However, he prayed before the court to take into account section 148 (5) (e) of the Criminal Procedure Act (CPA) that provides that a person facing charges involving more than Sh10 million should deposit in court half of the money as bond in order to be granted bail. However, the defence lawyers for Mattaka and Haji, advocates Peter Swai and Alex Mgongolwa, turned down the section of the law quoted by the state attorney, saying it was not relevant to charges facing their clients. “We don’t concur with the section of the CPA quoted by the prosecution because the charges before the court don’t mention anything to do with causing loss or theft,” said Mr Swai. The second accused person Ikomba asked the court to grant him bail, saying he was a trustworthy civil servant registered by the National Board of Accountants and Auditors (NBAA). In her ruling, Resident Magistrate Rita Tarimo concurred with a statement made by the prosecution that the accused have not caused loss or stole any money. The accused were granted bail on conditions that each one of them was supposed to have two sureties who would sign bonds of Sh10 million each.All the accuseds fulfilled the bail conditions and their case was adjourned to December 5, when it will be mentioned again. Mattaka retired from public service in May, this year, after serving ATCL for five years. Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites           |
