BY YAKOBE CHIWAMBO
10th February 2015
The report, “Explore the Swiss leaks data”, the work of an international consortium of investigative journalists ranks a total of 203 countries with largest deposits in Swiss bank accounts.
But there is no suggestion in the report that any of the amounts of money cited are illegal deposits, some involving money laundering.
The report says the maximum amount of money associated with a client in Tanzania is USD 20.8 million about 36.1bn/-.
However, based on the amount of money Tanzania is ranked 19th in Africa, 100th globally and second in EAC after Kenya with 742 people which have kept at least USD559.8 million. But based on the number of people, Tanzania is ranked 75th globally.
Uganda is the third with only 57 people that have kept 89.3 million followed by Burundi with only 11 people who hold at least 29.4 million. For Rwanda stands at USD 2.1 million.
In Africa, Egypt leads with the whopping USD 3.5 billion, followed by South Africa with USD 2 billion, Morocco is the third with 1.6 billion, followed by Eritrea with 699.6 million, Algeria with 671.1 million, Kenya with USD 559.8 million followed by Tunisia with 554.2 million, Libya with USD 522.9 million, Zimbabwe is the ninth with USD 272.2 million and Nigeria is the 10th with 266.6million USD dollars.
Globally, Switzerland itself leads with some USD 31.2 billion, followed by the United Kingdom with USD 21. billion, Venezuela is third with USD 14.8 billion, United States of America (USA) holds the fourth position with 13.4 billion and France is on the fifth position with 12.5 billion in Switzerland.
Reached for comment, Dr Bashiru Ally from the University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM), Faculty of Political Science and Public Administration said the issue of holding accounts overseas should not be politicised.
He pointed out that the issue is a global phenomenon which calls for investment in knowledge.
“It is not a question of who holds the account where. We have to understand how capitalism works and how to copy with it by tightening the systems,” he said while noting it is interesting that politicians simply take to the podium the matter without analysing it.
According to him, the problem is partially as a result of opening up the economy and financial system. He said the move leaves Tanzania’s economy venerable just as it is in politics.
“We have less power to control the economy. Most developing countries have not done much in controlling the economy. Even the so called academicians have not done much to show the positive and dark sides of capitalism. In countries like China investing in financial or telecommunication sectors by foreigners is not easy,” he said.
The academician noted that even the issue of money being deposited in overseas is being unveiled by the report and not Tanzania. This could be as a result of less investment in knowledge and technology.
According to him, the public should know that capitalism is never objective and therefore the need to understand it in depth and tighten the systems.
For his part, appointed Member of Parliament James Mbatia told this paper in a telephone interview that the issue of Tanzania banking overseas raises more questions that do not have answers.
He said the questions range from ethics to the laws and systems, the intentions behind, the philosophy and the systems in place.
He said the Founder of the Nation, Mwalimu Julius Kambarage Nyerere believed in socialism but currently Tanzania’s ideology remains unknown.
Mbatia called on the public to always think globally but act locally and at the same time should know the value for life and stop being crocked.
He said it is not surprising that the Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau (PCCB) is among leading public institutions in corruption, allegedly involved in 29 per cent bribery ranking nationwide according to recent report by Research on Poverty Alleviation (REPOA).
For his part, Kigoma North MP, Zitto Kabwe, said the report in question is a good step in curbing corruption and tax invasion.
“It is a fundamental step in tackle tax avoidance and global corruption. For Tanzania it will help put up more pressure on the government to release a report on investigation following the private motion on Swiss billions. People need to see names, names will obvious come out because of what these investigative journalists have done,” said Kabwe in his texted mobile message to this paper.
SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN
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