PCCB says probing ‘dirty money’ claims by opposition parties
What you need to know:
- Speaking to The Citizen, PCCB deputy director general Neema Mwakalyelye said investigations were ongoing without revealing the exact stage and how many people had been interrogated so far.
Dar es Salaam. The Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau (PCCB) has confirmed that investigations into the “dirty money” claims by opposition political parties have begun.
Speaking to The Citizen, PCCB deputy director general Neema Mwakalyelye said investigations were ongoing without revealing the exact stage and how many people had been interrogated so far.
“Unfortunately, I cannot tell you how far we have gone but investigations are ongoing,” she said.
The revelations come at a time when new allegations on the same matter have surfaced, this time in Zanzibar.
Over the weekend at Mkokotoni in Nungwi, opposition party ACT-Wazalendo issued a warning to its newly elected grassroots leaders regarding the infiltration of dirty money aimed at derailing the party’s vision.
Without explicitly naming the source of this external financial interference, both the party’s national chairman, Mr Othman Masoud Othman, and the vice chairman-Zanzibar, Mr Ismail Jussa, highlighted several attempts to use illicit funds to penetrate their hierarchy.
They warned that greed is the number one enemy, and they should not let it get the better of them, otherwise they would have lost the fight before it starts.
“In 1995 I was offered Sh20 million ($40,000) by some elements, but I refused because that was not part of the objective for me to join politics,” Mr Jussa told the gathering of over 200 grass-root leaders in Kaskazini A and B.
Party sources who spoke to The Citizen said it is a ploy to weaken them by targeting party leaders at different levels.
“Those who have been approached fall in two categories: those they want to cross over to CCM and those they want to remain within the opposition but to serve as their informers,” they claimed.
This narrative is not new, a few weeks ago another opposition stalwart from Chadema, Mr Tindu Lissu, was quoted warning against the use of money in the opposition party’s internal elections, urging members to be cautious of the funds he claimed “have been poured to disrupt the elections”.
“Whose money is this, where has it come from and for what purpose? This is not Chadema’s money!” said Mr Lissu, who is the party’s vice chairman.
No names are being mentioned but the fingers seem to be pointing towards the ruling party who have strongly disassociated themselves with such dealings.
CCM’s secretary for ideology and publicity, Mr Amos Makalla, during his visit to Mwananchi Communications Limited on May 7, distanced his party from the allegations made by Mr Lissu regarding the presence of ‘dirty’ money being injected to disrupt the party internal elections, saying it required a thorough investigation.
“Reports that the party has accepted illicit funds are concerning. A leading party in the opposition camp should not be involved in such activities. This revelation only strengthens our resolve to assert that this party is no longer worthy of people’s trust,” he said.
In his view, there is a need to investigate the illicit cash allegations stemming from the fact that terrorism is a serious matter across the world at present.
PCCB had earlier promised to investigate the allegation, however, a similar commitment is yet to be made by their counterparts Zaeca in Zanzibar.
“We usually work on information from any source. It’s not necessary for someone to come to our office. If the information is publicly disclosed, it falls under PCCB’s mandate and will be dealt with accordingly,” PCCB director general Salum Hamduni told Mwananchi then.
As the debate rages regarding the source of this recent alleged dirty funding it emerges that money and politics as such great bed fellows.
It is a shove and push game where the winner takes all, the stakes are quite high and as they say politics is a dirty game.
