Manyara councillors, PCCB dispute on per diems boils over

Babati. A row is boiling over between councillors in Manyara Region and the Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau (PCCB) after the latter issued a two-month ultimatum for the former to refund allowances it claims were paid to them erroneously.
The deputy regional PCCB commander for Manyara, Mr Isdore Kyando, said on Sunday that the councillors in the region have up to June, 2019 to refund the money they were erroneously paid as per diems.
Others, he said, received the money even as their names do not appear anywhere on the list of attendants for councillors’ meetings. “During our investigations, we realised that some councillors received per diems, but they did not spend a night away from their official workstations. This is unacceptable and the money must be refunded,” he said when briefing journalists on the operations of the PCCB’s regional office during the first quarter of the current calendar year.
However, in a quick rejoinder, the chairman of Babati District Council, Mr Nicodemus Tarmo, said some councillors’ names are missing because they did not register their names on the attendance forms.
“If you look at the minutes, you will see their names. They do not need to return the money. They simply forgot to register their names, which is not a crime. It was a human error,” he said.
He said they were against a move by PCCB to get its hands into legally recognised allowances for councillors.
“Some of these councillors live very far from the district headquarters where the meetings are held. The meetings sometimes ended in the late evening, so they were forced to spend the nights there,” he said.
But according to Mr Kyando, if councillors pocket allowances illegally, they will not be able to conduct their key task of holding public officials accountable.