Who inflated Air Tanzania’s cargo plane invoice?

Dar es Salaam. Finance Minister Dr Mwigulu Nchemba on Thursday, April 6, while speaking in Parliament assured the nation that the treasury’s payment systems were secure and that it is an infallible process.

Despite giving a detailed explanation the minister left many questions unanswered especially on who was responsible in the recent inflated invoicing of Air Tanzania’s cargo aircraft.

Dr Nchemba was answering Special Seats Member of Parliament (MP) Esther Matiko who was debating the 2023/24 Prime Minister’s budget.

Ms Matiko in her question said there was massive embezzlement of public funds in the aircraft procurement deal, accusing responsible government officials for remaining silent in the face of such a grave crime.

In his reply to Ms Matiko, Dr Mwigulu said given the established procedure, no monthly payments can be effected without the President’s knowledge, insisting that all financial demands received in the ministry are normally forwarded to the Head of State for authorization.

“The same applied to the aircraft procurement during which the increment was seen by the ministry when the demand was submitted. Since this is a contractual issue, the matter was taken to the Attorney General (AG) for consultation,” he said.

Mr Mwigulu fell short of mentioning who raised the invoice and the exact point where the increment was initiated before it was forwarded to the treasury for payment.

Up to this point it is not clear whether the payment was effected or not and if it was successful then the architects walked away $49 million (Sh112 billion) richer from the fraudulent scheme.

The assurance came on the heels of a revelation by the recently release CAG’s report that a $86 million invoice was submitted for payment instead of the $37 million that was agreed in the contract for the last installment.

When President Samia received the CAG’s report on March 29, she said that there was every indication that it was an inside job with a few officials in the treasury trying to manipulate system.

“We are about to receive the cargo aircraft. In the last instalment we were supposed to pay $37 million, but a new invoice shows the amount has increased to $86 million,” she said after receiving the Controller and Auditor General (CAG) report at State House, Dar es Salaam.

“When you ask about what the contract says, where did the new figures come from?, they say the price of equipment has gone up, but what does the contract say?” she questioned.

The cargo plane is set to be received this month and will operate from the Kilimanjaro International Airport as its hub.