Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA) Commissioner General Rished Bade was sent home yesterday as President John Magufuli cracked the whip on tax evasion which is believed to cost the government billions of shillings every year.
Mr Bade was suspended alongside five other top TRA officials, including his deputy Lusekelo Mwaseba, as the state ordered investigations into Sh80 billion in tax revenue that could not be accounted for by the taxman. The Sh80 billion was tax due from the importation of some 349 containers whose whereabouts could not however be explained by the suspended TRA officials during a surprise visit to the Dar es Salaam port yesterday by Prime Minister Majaliwa Kassim.
The suspension of Mr Bade was made from the State House while Mr Kassim removed the others during his tour. The government also ordered seizure of the suspended officials’ passports while the police were directed to immediately launch investigations into their lifestyle audit, including how much money they held in respective bank accounts.
Dr Magufuli further banned travel outside the country of all TRA employees as the investigations continue and asked them to cooperate fully with the police.
“The President has asked all those who imported the containers to voluntarily surrender and pay the tax due at TRA offices,” said Chief Secretary Ombeni Sefue in a statement sent to newsrooms last evening. Sources in government told The Citizen that the President has ordered a thorough audit of the tax record by the big companies that have been linked to tax evasion with a view to ensuring the money that was not paid is collected as soon as possible.
The unannounced visit at the port and TRA offices by the PM is in character of the new President who has declared war against tax evasion and other underhand deals by dishonest public officials in collusion with private companies.
During his state address while opening the 11th Parliament, Dr Magufuli expressed dissatisfaction with the TRA performance and told its officials to shape up or quit. The Head of State has moved to contain excessive public expenditure as his new administration faces a budget deficit amid falling revenue collection. He has suspended foreign travel, public celebrations and seminars and workshops in hotels.
Yesterday’s move on TRA is however the first direct action on top government bureaucrats by Dr Magufuli as he seeks to stamp his authority and rein in on the rotten public service.
Dr Magufuli named Dr Phillip Mpango, the executive secretary in the President’s Office (Planning Commission) as Acting TRA Commissioner General. Earlier on, Mr Kassim directed the Inspector General of Police Ernest Mangu to arrest the TRA officials that he sent home including seizing their passports in the course of investigation.
The Premier further directed Mr Mangu to ensure that their assets were assessed to see if they were obtained legally and if they correlate with the salaries of the suspended public servants. The five top officials who were suspended by the Prime Minister are Customs Commissioner Tiagi Masamaki, Customer Servive Centre head Habibu Mponezya, Information and Communication Technology (ICT) head Haruni Mpande, Internal Container Depots (ICD) in-charge Eliachi Mrema and Mr Hamisi Ali Omari whose department was not mentioned.
“These officials have been suspended with immediate effect to pave the way for investigation to be carried out and they should be arrested immediately,’’ said the visibly furious PM. The investigation will be carried out by the police in collaboration with detectives from the tax collector and TPA management.
Mr Kassim also directed that three other public servants be transferred from Dar es Salaam to upcountry offices. They include Mr Anangisye Mtafya, Mr Nsajigwa Mwandengele and Mr Robert Nyoni.
The PM also directed that the missing containers worth billions of shillings should be recovered and that the Sh80 billion be brought back to the State coffers.
The move to send TRA top officials home came barely a week after President Magufuli laid down the priorities of his government, sending out a strong statement that it will not be business as usual under his leadership.
He spoke on his new administration in a one-and-half-hour long maiden speech to inaugurate the 11th Parliament in Dodoma.
Dr Magufuli vowed to fight corruption and all forms of impunity. The president’s speech set the working tone for the yet to be assembled cabinet and also for those in public service, either as politicians or civil servants.
He said it was now the time for Tanzanians to walk the talk in the resolve to confront vices that he said were holding the nation back in uplifting millions from abject poverty.
The Head of State enumerated some of the drawbacks as mega corruption, embezzlement of funds within local government, poor management and sheer waste of public resources, including natural wealth and bureaucracy in government offices.
On corruption, Dr Magufuli reiterated his campaign pledge to form a special court to try graft cases, telling MPs that the vice had permeated the nation to chocking levels.
“I will fight corruption without fear or favour. I will personally lead the charge…pray for me and support me in this war because those involved are not the ordinary mwananchi.”
He added: “The public hate corruption, and I hate corruption too. Honest citizens will not shy away or be afraid to lend their support,” said Dr Magufuli, who quoted the founding father of the nation Mwalimu Julius Nyerere as equating the vice in 1960 to war-like situation.
Yesterday, the Prime Minister started to implement Dr Magufuli’s pledge with the taxman. Tanzania has been losing billions of shillings in tax collection and exemptions according to the various yearly audit reports released by the Controller and Auditor General (CAG).
Before he announced firing the TRA top officials, Premier Kassim held a meeting with at TPA with the IGP, Permanent Secretary (PS) in the Prime Minister’s Office, Dr Florens Turuka, Transport ministry PS Dr Shaaban Mwinjaka, Dar es Salaam Special Zone Police Commissioner Suleiman Kova, TPA Director General Mr Awadh Massawe and other leaders from TPA and TRA.
Mr Kassim further asked Dr Servacius who also attended the meeting to ensure that he deployed experts from e-government to TPA to find out how unscrupulous officials stole revenues at the Dar es Salaam Port.
Earlier on when responding to questions from the Prime Minister, the suspended TRA boss admitted that there were missing containers that ought to be verified by ICDs.
“We did an inspection in one ICD and found out that 54 containers were missing through dubious deals; however, when we went ahead with our inspection the number increased to 327. We are still following up in collaboration with the Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau (PCCB),’’ said Mr Bade.
According to him, the ICD owner was ordered to pay Sh12.6 billion and that he had already paid Sh2.4 billion.
Asked by Mr Majaliwa to mention the names of TRA officials who were involved the dubious deal, Mr Bade could not reveal the names although he admitted that he had a list in his office requesting that he be given time to ask his subordinates to bring the names. Unexpectedly, the Prime minister read out all the 349 containers and the number plates of vehicles carrying the consignments, a list that was accepted by the suspended TRA chief.
“With this trend, we cannot succeed without sending people home,’’ said Mr Majaliwa as he went ahead to read the names of the suspended officials.
