Kilaini: People did not want to hear the truth about the Tegeta Escrow scandal

Dar es Salaam. The auxiliary bishop of Bukoba Diocese, Methodius Kilaini has retired with several achievements to write home about.

Speaking during an exclusive interview with with MCL, the cleric said it was actually the Tegeta Escrow scandal that gave him sleepless nights.

Due to the widespread attention the scandal garnered across Tanzania, there was a reluctance among people to genuinely listen to what he referred to as 'the truth' regarding what had transpired when it was revealed that he was among the recipients of the funds alleged to have been misappropriated from the escrow account.

The scandal emerged in 2014, involving the scandalous withdrawal of a staggering Sh306 billion (about $250 million at the exchange rate of that time) from an escrow account at the Bank of Tanzania (BoT) that was jointly opened by Tanzania Electric Supply Company (Tanesco) and Independent Power Tanzania Limited (IPTL) pending a tussle over capacity charges between the two in local and international courts.

Origionally, IPTL had been founded by two companies: VIP Engineering, owned by Mr James Rugemalira, who had a 30 percent stake and Mechmar of Malysia.

But before the withdrawal of the escrow funds, Pan African Power Solutions Tanzania Limited (PAP), owned by Mr Harbinder Singh Sethi, purportedly took over 70 percent of IPTL from Mechmar.

From the withdrawn funds, billions of shillings were paid to Mr Sethi from the account after he convinced the relevant officials he had acquired the 70 percent stake in IPTL from Mechmar, which enabled him to reach out-of-court settlements with VIP Engineering and Marketing, a local firm that owned 30 percent of IPTL.

To reach a deal with VIP, Mr Sethi had to pay a whopping $75 million to acquire 30 percent of IPTL in order to have full control of the Tegeta escrow billions as well as the power plants.

What followed was that the director of VIP, Mr James Rugemalira, gave several individuals part of the money he earned from the deal.

In this case, Bishop Kilaini reportedly received Sh40 million through the transfer of the funds to his account.

Others implicated in the scandal include the then minister for Lands, Housing and Human Settlements Development, Prof Anna Tibaijuka. She was sacked by President Jakaya Kikwete, who said there were ethical questions after she [Prof Tibaijuka] received Sh1.6 billion in her account from the proceeds of the Tegeta Escrow Account.

Mr Frederick Werema resigned from the position of Attorney General, saying his advice to the government regarding the transfer of IPTL ownership was "misunderstood." Energy and Minerals Permanent Secretary Eliakim Maswi was suspended during the controversial saga.

But speaking on the matter during the recent interview, Bishop Kilaini said the scandal gave him a difficult time because no one was ready to listen to the truth.

He said the truth of the matter was that Rugemalira gave him the money to help various people through him.

“I was given the money as a surprise. I didn't ask for it. It was credited into my account. I didn’t see any problem. Regemalira told me the central bank had paid him the money after the court approved it,” he said.

Further, he said that it should be noted that the same court also acquitted Rugemalira because there was no fraudulent case against him.

"I was silent about the whole saga because people were not ready to listen to the truth and accusations against me were everywhere. The media reporting every day until there was nothing to report,” he said.

He said he later decided to return the money that had proved a barrier between him and God’s work.

Given this, he said that he learned that it's difficult for people to understand the truth when they have their own views, and the best thing is to believe in the truth no matter the challenges.

In the interview Bishop Kilaini also spoke about his journey to priesthood, challenges and success.

Speaks on Marriage

About marriages he said today's marriages have problems, and that he often gives lectures on the radio on the topic.

He believes that marriage is the essence of life and will go well if it is well prepared and blessed in church and not just randomly decided.

"When a couple has children and the marriage breaks up, it's a disaster that will not only affect the couple but also the children and society at large. Both husband and wife must have rights in marriage and must not pretend to tolerate each other. Unfortunately, this doesn't exist at the moment. People enter marriage without God’s blessing and separate the same way,” he said.

According to him, many conflicts in marriage are a result of a lack of loyalty, where currently both husband and wife cheat on their husbands, which raises doubt about the children's paternity.

Explaining, he said that for Christians, marriage was created for two people, man and woman.

On the issue of forgiveness, he said that couples should learn to forgive to build their marriage because humans were created to make mistakes.

His advice to couples is not to allow friends to break their marriages because they come with lies and bad intentions.

His advice on the two election and political parties laws passed on Friday in Parliament Bishop Kilaini noted that Tanzanians should understand that laws are made by the people, and no country has perfect laws.

"I lived in Italy. They had complete democratic laws, but they still had conflict,” he said.

According to him, all that politicians want is to come to power. The one who is in power doesn't want to leave, and the one who is out wants to enter, so it was imperative to ensure equality to have a consensus.

He explained that while the Italians exercised democracy and ensured every political candidate's rights were protected and their votes counted, in the end they could not agree together to build one nation.

He advised that the politicians should work together and not leave during disagreements because the others will continue without their input.

"We pray for peace, justice, and tolerance. I was grateful the other day when the government allowed the peaceful demonstrations organised by Chadema, and they went well,” he said.

According to him, the government should work with the opposition, and the opposition should also find a way to tolerate the government. “We are building one house in Tanzania,” he said.