Hoseah clashes with judge over PCCB

Dodoma. Principal Judge Fakihi Jundu and the executive director of the Prevention and Combating Corruption Bureau (PCCB), Dr Edward Hoseah, clashed here yesterday on whether the anti-graft agency should have powers to prosecute suspects.

The top government executives displayed their differences on how to deal with the vice on the second day of the African Parliamentarians Network Against Corruption.

While Mr Jundu took the cautious position that giving PCCB prosecution powers amounted to ditching checks and balances, Dr Hoseah argued that corruption was no longer a “normal” crime and had risen to such high levels that it could no longer be handled in the traditional way.

Mr Jundu warned against bestowing one agency with powers to arrest corruption suspects, investigating the allegations and then prosecuting them. “We should be careful when deciding on this issue,” he added. “We should not only rely on voting because many might decide to vote for giving PCCB prosecuting powers when doing so might be against good governance principles.”

Dr Hoseah quickly responded that the principle of checks and balances should not be an excuse to deny his agency powers to prosecute because “corruption is not a normal crime”. Even the UK—where the principle originated—chose to change, he went on, because fighting corruption calls for different tactics.

“The UK has established the Serious Fraud Office (SFO), which has a mandate similar to that of PCCB,” he said. “SFO has powers to arrest, investigate and prosecute, though there is another institution mandated for prosecution.” Corruption is now recognised as a national disaster, he added, and that is why the government and Parliament decided to enact a special law to deal with corruption.

“We have the penal code which deals with criminal events, but we decided to enact a law specifically to deal with corruption because we know that corruption is not a normal crime,” he said. Rwanda, Uganda and Sierra Leone have chosen to go the UK way and have given their anti-corruption authorities powers to prosecute. Rwanda is reported to have since made progress in fighting corruption.

Dr Hoseah added: “There is a need to treat corruption as a national cancer because that is what it is. My office has been blamed for not bringing many people accused of corruption to book because they think that PCCB has powers to do so.”

The chairman of the Commission for Good Governance and Human rights, Judge (Rtd) Amiri Manento, said people should ask themselves what was behind the PCCB’s alleged inefficiency before deciding on the issue.

“I, for one, have been asking myself if the high rate of acquittals in corruption cases is caused by lack of prosecuting powers at PCCB or lack of concrete evidence and witnesses to prove the allegations,” he said. “I have no answer to this.”

Judge Manento pointed out that many of so-called big corruption cases take long to be concluded. He wondered if that was because PCCB lacked prosecution powers.

He cited a case facing two former ministers, a permanent secretary and former ambassador to Italy Dr Rick Costa Mahalu. The former minister’s case, filed more than three years ago, is still pending, while Mr Mahalu’s case lasted more than seven years.

Responding to questions from the floor, Dr Hosea reiterated his position that lack of committed leadership and appropriate laws were the major factors impeding the war on corruption. “In short, PCCB has been handcuffed,” he added, “yet we are asked to arrest big fish engaged in corruption. How can we do that?”

He accused the leadership of failing to give PCCB room to fight corruption and asked: “Do we have honest leadership? Can we investigate big corruption cases and get the green light to proceed even if we touch big interests standing in our way?”

Dr Hosea stressed that honest leadership was the secret to success in the war against corruption. Significantly, he added, all oversight bodies were included in the constitution except PCCB.

The head of administration in the police force, Deputy Commissioner Thobias Andengenye, said the force had done all it could to battle corruption from within.

“We have decided to clean our house first because you cannot go out and chase a thief without first locking your door,” he said.

Meanwhile, Nkasi MP Ali Mohammed Keisy (CCM) accused fellow lawmakers of offering bribes through mobile money transactions.

But his Mji Mkongwe counterpart, Mohammed Sanya (CUF), said many MPs give money to their people because many of them were poor and saw MPs as their saviours.