Perhaps what most do not know is the revelation by an authoritative report that close to 100 Tanzanians hold a total of over 197.7 billion/- in accounts of Swiss banks.
This is indeed a whopping sum of money which could have been put to great use and boost Tanzania’s economy had it been deposited in Tanzania banks. For instance, it could have been borrowed from the banks by ordinary Tanzanians for use in various socio-economic projects.
Else, it could have been invested in shares or securities for the government to borrow… and so on, so forth. But keeping the money in Swiss banks means that Tanzania, as a nation and Tanzanians as individuals, cannot have access to the monies, indeed a great loss of very valuable opportunities.
But, what is very perplexing is that although we have been hearing about Tanzanians having large sums of money in Swiss banks, no one has come out in the open with a list of names of suspects.
To our memory, only one government minister has admitted to have kept slightly over a billion shillings in a foreign bank, money that he termed ‘vijisenti’ (Kiswahili for cents).
But all the time people have been complaining that big shots hide their loot in Swiss banks. Even the just released report called “Explore the Swiss leaks data” does not give any names.
We understand the difficulty involved, for people depositing money in Swiss banks cannot be ordinary people, the holloi poloi. Certainly they would be people with financial muscles who would do anything in their power to block being exposed and any investigation on them. Least of all, they would not like their names being mentioned anywhere.
But, in the name of justice and to be fair to Tanzanians, it is now time that the government spilled the beans. We know that it has got the wherewithal to do so, for there are several institutions under it which only need to be told to get into action.
As in any crime a suspect is not guilty until and unless declared so by a court of law. The government could use institutions like the Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau (PCCB), Criminal Investigation Department (CID) which has links with Interpol and other state security organs.
It is surely time that the government should come out in the open and clear the air surrounding these rumours.
We believe that the longer the time people are fed with rumours, the more the chances that they will believe in them. By all means let us avoid this. All would be well if the government came out with the truth on the matter.
SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN
No comments :
Post a Comment