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President Samia orders inspection of all buildings in Kariakoo as death toll in collapsed building rises to 13

Prof Anna Tibaijuka to refund Sh1.6billion Tegeta-Escrow money

Dar es Salaam. Five years after the Tegeta- Escrow scandal rocked the nation with prominent government officials implicated after they received vast sums of money from businessman James Rugemalira, one the beneficiaries has decided to return the cash.

Prof Anna Tibaijuka, who was Minister for Lands, Housing and Human Settlements Development during the time that the scandal broke out, has said she is ready to return the Sh1.6 billion that her school, Barbro Johnson Model Girls School, received from Mr Rugemalira .

Prof Tibaijuka says it was an institutional decision made by the Barbro Johnson Model Girls School to return the money.

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Speaking on an interview on UTV, Prof Tibaijuka said after deliberations with the school administration it was decided that the money be returned to allow Mr Rugemarila gain his freedom from jail.

“This was not a personal decision, after the board chairman Mr Salmon Odunga and chair of the parents committee Dr Kiharuzi held a meeting it was decide that the money should be returned.

According to the former minister, the money which she received from the businessman was used to construct dormitories but they are ready to look for the money by all means and return it to Mr Rugemalira.

Prof Tibaijuka did not however explain whether the money will be returned in lamp-sum as it was received or in installments.

Mr Rugemalira is in remand facing economic crimes charges alongside fellow IPTL majority shareholder Harbinder Sethi Singh.

According to documents filed in the investigation of Sh306 billion scam in 2014 by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), Mr Rugemalira gave away billions to top politicians, clerics, government officials and other individuals from his share of the escrow monies in separate transactions from an account at Mkombozi Bank.

His company, VIP Engineering and Marketing, sold its 30 per cent shares in Independent Power Tanzania (IPTL) to Pan African Power (PAP) for $65 million, an amount Mr Rugemalira famously described as “just a few cents for tobacco.”

Apart from Prof Tibaijuka other prominent names which were mentioned in that report included former Energy minister William Ngeleja, former AG Andrew Chenge, former TIC chief Ole Naiko among others.

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