Masasi. The Masasi District Court in Mtwara Region has arraigned 12 suspects on 27 counts of economic offences involving allegations of corruption and forgery of documents.
The suspects, some of them village leaders and officials from Chigugu Village in Masasi District, appeared before Principal Resident Magistrate Rehema Iddy on Wednesday, June 10, 2026, for charges hearing.
They are Merchior Mchopa, Jackson Ngombe, Michael Millanzi, Francis Chilumba, Mohamed Katopola, Hamis Namkutwanga, Husna Mohamed, Bibie Chivalama, Mbaraka Namkutwanga, Hamis Kalanje, Hamza Rashid, and Ismail Ngunga.
According to the charge sheet in Case No. 12683/2026, the offences relate to alleged fraudulent activities during the implementation of the Ndanda–Mbwinji water pipeline project to Masasi in 2016.
The court heard that the accused allegedly facilitated the unlawful payment of more than Sh6 million to seven individuals under the water project.
It was further alleged that in 2018, they were involved in fraudulent compensation payments by the Masasi Water Supply and Sanitation Authority (Manawasa).
The prosecution said the payments were processed using documents containing false information, resulting in financial loss to the government.
Preliminary investigations indicated the use of forged documents to facilitate the payments in breach of established procedures.
However, all the accused denied the charges after they were read in court.
Given the nature of the offences, the case is being handled under economic offences procedures in line with the law.
State Attorney Charles Mtungila requested an adjournment, saying investigations into some aspects of the case were still ongoing.
The court adjourned the case to Monday, June 22, 2026, when the hearing will continue.
