It is claimed that senior Tanzania Ports Authority officials received a $800,000 bribe in two instalments of $100,000 and $700,000 paid in cash that was delivered in suitcases back in 2014/15. PHOTO | FILE
Dar es Salaam. Ten days after German software firm SAP was hit with a $222 million fine in the US for bribing government officials in Africa, including Tanzania, the Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau (PCCB) said the country was making a follow-up.
PCCB chief Salum Hamduni said on Thursday that the Foreign Affairs and East Africa Cooperation ministry and the Attorney General’s Chambers were seeking judgement documents from US authorities.
The documents provide details with regard to the imposition of the fine on SAP following a bribery investigation launched against the firm, according to the anti-corruption boss.
Mr Hamduni said since the verdict was a legal issue, various authorities were involved in the process of the judgement’s domestication.
“The two authorities (ministry and AG’s Chambers) are mandated to follow up on judgement documents. How Tanzania will benefit will be known in due course because official communication between domestic and foreign authorities is still ongoing.
“Internal communication has also started among various government authorities, although the AG’s Chambers hold the full mandate,” he added.
Mr Hamduni added that so far the relevant government officials had learnt of the matter through the media, noting that the picture would become clearer once judgement documents would be made available.
SAP is linked with offering bribes to senior Tanzania Ports Authority (TPA) officials in 2014/15 to win a tender and the firm is alleged to have colluded with TPA insiders to get preferential treatment on other multiple government deals that were meant for competitive bidding.
SAP is required to pay $222 million to the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for violating the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) after being involved in corrupt deals in Tanzania, Kenya, South Africa, Ghana, Malawi, Azerbaijan and Indonesia.
In a statement, SAP said it separated from all responsible parties more than five years ago and has since significantly enhanced its global compliance programme and related internal controls.
However, a search on the Twenty Third Century Security (TTCS) website shows that the company still lists itself as a provider of SAP Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and maintains a local office in Dar es Salaam.
TTCS was the partner of SAP in the TPA tender and during local investigations by Tanzanian authorities, it was reported that representatives from TTCS/SAP were involved in the bribery case.
Also, a search on the Business Registration and Licenses Authority (Brela) website has confirmed TTCS as a limited company in Tanzania with a local address.
Regarding the TTCS development, Mr Hamduni said the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) and Brela were the ones responsible for blacklisting companies that violate laws, regulations and procedures governing businesses in the country.
No response was forthcoming from PPRA and Brela despite The Citizen reaching out to them.
However, a source at TPA said it is claimed that senior within the authority pocketed $800,000 (Sh2.1 billion) in bribes to award a $6.635 million software tender to a partner firm of the German company.
The tender involved the provision of software licences and services awarded to TTCS, which is registered in Zimbabwe.
It is claimed that the TPA officials received the bribes in two instalments of $100,000 and $700,000 paid in cash delivered in suitcases.
Despite paying over $4 million for the tender, the foreign company failed to deliver the ICT services (installed 7 of 26 modules).
Tanzania terminated the contract in 2019 and cases were filed in 2022 against the top local officials who allegedly colluded in the deal.
They include a former TPA director general, human resources manager, acting ICT director and board chairman of procurement, along with two others.
It is also believed that the foreign TTCS firm charged TPA more than twice the amount for annual software licence fees. TPA paid $404,029.03 in annual software license fees, yet the actual required amount was $190,643.
It is also reported that in September 2019, TPA paid the same foreign company from Germany more than $400,000 to review the work done by its Zimbabwean-registered partners. TPA also awarded another contract worth $997,647 for unspecified services.
The Controller and Auditor General (CAG) conducted a special value for money audit which uncovered that the ports authority awarded the contract to TTCS in October 2015 for supply, installation, testing and commissioning of an ICT system.
It is unknown whether Tanzania or any of the African countries linked to the saga will get a slice of the $222 million fine.
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