Former Managing director of Reli Assets Holding Company (Rahco), Mr Benhadard Tito.
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The President has also directed the acting director general of the Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau to launch thorough investigations over Tito’s alleged role in violating procurement laws in the project.
Dar es Salaam. President John Magufuli yesterday suspended the managing director of Reli Assets Holding Company (Rahco), Mr Benhadard Tito (pictured), to pave the way for investigations into gross procurement flaws in awarding a tender for building the $7.6 billion (Sh15 trillion) standard gauge railway line.
The President has also directed the acting director general of the Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau to launch thorough investigations over Tito’s alleged role in violating procurement laws in the project.
Chief Secretary Ombeni Sefue said in a statement that President Magufuli reached the decision after calling a meeting of experts from various ministries and government institutions involved in the implementation of the project.
He said the President also dissolved Rahco board of directors after satisfying himself that it had failed to perform its function of supervising the tendering process, but instead defended the irregularities. Mr Tito announced two months ago that the project, which was initially set for official launch by former President Jakaya Kikwete, would now be inaugurated by President Magufuli.
Mr Tito said in a statement that President Kikwete was scheduled to launch the mega project on September 15 at Mpiji-Soga at the border between Kisarawe and Kibaha districts, but failed to do so due to the Head of State’s tight election schedule. Rahco is the main supervisor of the project, which is part of the Central Transport Corridor intended to promote interregional trade in the east and central African region. The standard gauge railway line will link Dar es Salaam with Isaka in north-western Tanzania and Kigali in Rwanda with a link to Burundi running from Keza to Musongati through Gitega.
Appropriate action
Yesterday, President Magufuli instructed Mr Tito to cooperate with state organs investigating the tendering process.
The President also directed the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) to scrutinise the process and take appropriate action against winning contractors if they were proved to have a role in violating procurement laws. In another development, President Magufuli dissolved the board of the Tanzania Railways Limited (TRL) on dissatisfaction over the way it dealt with an investigation report on the controversial purchase of TRL wagons.
The sacking of Mr Tito comes seven months after former Transport minister Samuel Sitta declared in Parliament that the Chinese consortium led by China Railway Materials had been awarded a $7.6 billion contract to build a 2,561-kilometre standard gauge railway from Dar es Salaam to Burundi, Rwanda and DR Congo.
Mr Sitta said the consortium would finance 10 per cent of the total cost, while financial advisor Rothschild was finalising procedures for sourcing the remaining funds through commercial banks.
The TradeMark East Africa, which supervises the major EAC infrastructure projects said in its April 2015 report that the standard gauge railway was part of unlocking huge economic potentials of the EAC countries and beyond which were now enjoying huge discoveries of oil and gas deposits.
According to TradeMark East Africa improvement of transport infrastructure in the Central Transport Corridor and the Northern Transport Corridor running from Mombasa in Kenya to Kigali, Rwanda was crucial for unlocking economic potentials of the landlocked countries.
“The EAC member states-Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi, whose combined gross domestic product (GDP) is $110.3 billion (about 204 trillion), are working to package joint infrastructure plans aimed at boosting trade and speeding up economic integration in the region,” reads part of TradeMark East Africa statement.
With the construction of the standard gauge railway, Tanzania expects to increase further the amount of transit cargo handled at its main Dar es Salaam Port.
Addressing Parliament in Dodoma in July, former President Kikwete said the amount of transit cargo handled by the Dar es Salaam Port from the landlocked countries was expected to increase by 25 per cent this year.
