by Kizito Makoye, Dar es Salaam
As Tanzania government is feebly struggling to renovate its image in the donor community after a myriad of corruption scandals, Switzerland says it will assist the recovery of looted public funds that may have been stashed away in its bank accounts by corrupt Tanzanian officials.
The Swiss ambassador to Tanzania, Adrian Schalpfer announced recently that his country would "gladly help to repatriate funds" confirmed to have been looted from Tanzania and hidden in Swiss banks.
The move comes amid investigations against the beleaguered former Attorney General Andrew Chenge who is accused by the Britain’s Serious Fraud Office of receiving fraudulent payment linked to the controversial purchase of military radar.
Chenge was forced to resign after one of his offshore accounts with 1 million dollars was disclosed in Britain’s Jersey Island.
Switzerland has now welcomed any formal requests from Tanzania authorities for the speedy release of information that could assist in prosecution of key suspects behind various corruption allegations.
The Swiss Ambassador did not cite any specific examples.
A Tanzania fugitive, Shailesh Vithlani, currently under investigation by SFO over some US$12 million corruption related bribes, is also believed to be hiding in Switzerland.
Vithlani is the key suspect in the SFO investigation involving the purchase by Tanzania of 40 million dollars radar from BAE Systems of the United Kingdom.
He has being accused of paying kickbacks to several senior government officials to enable the company to clinch the deal.
The Swiss Ambassador said that his government is working closely with the Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau (PCCB) to provide legal assistance on corruption.
Government authorities are currently investigating the foreign aspect of the Bank of Tanzania scandal following revelation that part of the Tsh 133 billion over (US$ 100 million) which got stolen from external payment arrears(EPA) Account was stashed away in offshore bank accounts.
The Swiss Ambassador said “I know of no other country that has gone as far as Switzerland in actually returning assets deposited in its banks by greedy leaders as illustrated in the case of former Nigerian dictator Sani Abacha. Then, some 400 million dollars was returned to the Nigerian Government," he said.
“Switzerland can wholeheartedly subscribe to this commitment. As a matter of fact - and despite an outdated perception of my country as an impenetrable safe haven for all kinds of ill-gotten fortunes - Switzerland is nowadays among the pioneers in promoting joint international commitments to combat the stashing away of stolen assets, to stop money laundering, and to stop financing international terrorism.’’
He further noted that at the general budget support annual review last November, development partners had agreed with Tanzanian government officials to jointly tackle corruption.
Schalpfer was speaking in Dar es Salaam during the launch of a web-based system to enable the public to report and track corruption funded jointly by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and the Embassy of Finland.
Kizito Makoye is as Tanzanian Journalist based in Dar es Salaam
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