Last Friday, Finance and Economic Affairs Minister Mustafa Mkulo told Parliament that the Sh133 billion looted from the External Payment Arrears account wasn't the Government's money.
In a surprise statement during the winding down of the Budget, Mr Mkulo said the sum that was illegally paid through the account to individuals and suspect companies belonged to private businessmen and not the people of Tanzania.
While Mr Mkulo says the looted billions belonged to neither the Government nor the Central Bank of Tanzania, President Kikwete, in a statement issued on January 9, noted that he was 'gravely shocked by the looting of public funds within the BoT'.
It is for this reason the head of state formed a special taskforce to investigate how the EPA billions was looted as well as recovering the stolen monies. He also directed that thereafter all those suspected should be prosecuted before a court of law.
It is therefore appalling to hear from Mr Mkulo that the looted billions don't belong to the Government. It is not our intention to translate further what the minister meant, but we would like him to be clear on this issue.
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It is not enough to say the sum belongs to businesspeople. Who are they? Why would the Government spend a lot of energy to recover funds belonging to some businesspeople?
Wasn't this account formed under the debt buy-back scheme introduced by the Government in collaboration with the World Bank in 1994?
It will be interesting to know to whom the said funds do in fact belong.
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