Tanzania’s President Samia Suluhu Hassan has sacked the director general of the Tanzania Government Flight Agency (TGFA), and dissolved the board of the Tanzania Railways Corporation (TRC), following the 2021/2022 Controller and Auditor General (CAG) report.
TGFA’s director general, John Nzulule, and the TRC board were singled out due to various revelations in the CAG report regarding inconsistencies in the processes used to purchase a Boeing cargo jet to be leased to the Air Tanzania Company Limited (ATCL), and locomotives and carriages for the TRC.
According to the report, the contracts used to purchase the said plane and rolling stock for the railroad, were not made in the nation’s interest. Both entities reportedly cost the taxpayer more money with the contracts they chose.
On the case of the TRC, the corporation was noted to have twice rejected purchasing the rolling stock from the lowest bidder’s offer of $263.4 million, instead opting for a non-competitive purchase of $478 million, which cost an additional $215 million of taxpayers’ money.
Additionally, the TRC forewent a performance guarantee during the contract’s implementation, leading to a loss of € 5.3 million (Sh13.7 billion).
The CAG report also noted that the last payment that the Tanzania Government Flight Agency made for the manufacture of the Boeing cargo jet was $37 million, but the TGFA submitted an invoice of $86 million to the government, an increase of $49 million.
In a statement issued on Sunday evening the Presidency said apart from the TRC board and TGFA director, the chief secretary was directed to see to it that permanent secretaries and director generals of government entities read the CAG report and implement solutions to all issues raised in their areas.
President Samia has also ordered the permanent secretaries to make sure everyone implicated in the CAG report should pay the price as required by Tanzania law.
