The Citizen praised for its bold stand in exposing IPTL tricks
What you need to know:
The deal, which has been financed in part by $270 million from the escrow account, opened at the Bank of Tanzania (BoT) some years ago and is being queried even as some legal experts punch holes in the manner in which it was sealed.
Dar es Salaam. The Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PAC) yesterday commended The Citizen newspaper for uncovering the Tegeta Escrow account scandal and for its stand while covering the instrigues surrounding it.
Presenting the committee’s statement on the Controller and Auditor General’s (CAG) report on the Tegeta Escrow Account, PAC vice chairman Deo Filikunjombe said The Citizen thoroughly covered the saga despite threats.
“Honorable speaker PAC commended media outlets for informing the public with regard to Tegeta Escrow account stand; but in a very special way the committee commends The Citizen newspaper for its stand (while covering the saga) despite threats leveled against them,” said Mr Filikunjombe.
The paper was also commended by the Legal and Human Rights Centre executive director, Dr Helen Kijo-Bisimba. Reached for her comments shortly after the CAG report was tabled in Parliament, Dr Kijo-Bisimba lauded the paper for uncovering the scam.
“The Citizen was the newspaper which uncovered the scam; you (The Citizen journalists) are the ones who set the wheels rolling on the issue which culminated in it being discussed in Parliament. I have nothing but praise for you,” said Dr Bisimba.
On March 3, The Citizen ran a story raising questions in legal and government circles. The story detailed how a deal took place at a time when there were two different court battles in Dar es Salaam and Washington— about Tanesco’s $270m— involving the liquidated IPTL, the company that has dominated the country’s energy sector for 19 years.
The deal, which has been financed in part by $270 million from the escrow account, opened at the Bank of Tanzania (BoT) some years ago and is being queried even as some legal experts punch holes in the manner in which it was sealed.
On May 23, Pan Africa Power Solutions Tanzania Limited (PAP), who claimed to have legally acquired IPTL, sued both The Citizen and Mwananchi newspapers, which are both published by Mwananchi Communications Limited, demanding a whopping $5.5 billion as general damages and business losses the company claims it suffered following the series of articles published in March. The plaintiffs through their lawyers also wanted the court to bar The Citizen and Mwananchi from publishing any stories related to the IPTL.
The plaintiff claimed that any further publication would further cause them serious damage. The case is yet to be determined.
