VIP Engineering and Marketing CEO James Rugemalira.
As local investors behind the Sh54 trillion Mwambani Port project hit back, their accuser, former Kigoma North MP says it’s appalling to see that those who benefited from the escrow deal still get lucrative business
Dar es Salaam. The leader of Tanzania’s newest political party, the Alliance for Change and Transformations (ACT), Mr Zitto Kabwe, yesterday defended his claim that the $30 billion (Sh54 trillion) Mwambani Economic Corridor Project was marred with controversies—insisting that no tender for it was advertised.
But as Mr Kabwe sticks to his stance, players behind the multibillion dollar project yesterday responded to the allegations, saying their deal was clean and was processed in a very transparent manner.The Citizen contacted the ACT chief to verify his assertions which he uttered on Sunday, as well as the accuracy of the figure quoted as the value of the project.
“I stick to my word… the figure is from VIP Engineering and not me; this is a huge project that shouldn’t be doled out without any proper international tendering.” Mr Kabwe was speaking on the phone from Morogoro.
“This isn’t politics…it’s about following the right procedures in handling such a huge project which would cost trillions of shillings,” Mr Kabwe said, adding: “It should be noted that this project would at the end require government guarantee.”
He further said: “My stand is that Tanzanians have the right to be told how VIP Engineering and associates were awarded this lucrative tender.”
Mr Kabwe who started his official tour in Morogoro Region yesterday to market his newly formed party insisted that he wasn’t against local investors, but was opposed to what he called, an unexplained lucrative port deal, granted to VIP Engineering and Marketing.
VIP hits back
Last week, VIP revealed before some editors who gathered in Bagamoyo to get a fresh lecture on “how the Parliament erred in the escrow saga,” that it was involved in multitrillion Mwambani Economic Corridor Project.
Contacted for comment yesterday, the Mwambani Port and Railway Corridor Company (Mwaporc) director, Mr Cuthbert Tenga, said the project has nothing to do with the government.
“There was no tendering necessity because this isn’t a government project,” he said, adding that people were confusing this project with the state-run Mwambani Port located 40km south of Tanga from Mwaporc. Mr Tenga concurred that the initial financing of the project, which was still on the drawing board, was Sh54 trillion that will come from interested parties in financing, engineering and other professional bodies and individuals.
“This is a new project of its kind to be implemented in Tanzania. It is an economic transformation project that involves construction of a huge port, railways and business towns along a corridor,’ said the Mwaporc boss when reacting to allegations by Mr Kabwe, who said individuals who were involved in the Tegeta escrow scandal have been awarded a tender for the Sh54 trillion Mwambani economic corridor project.
He said the project was a recent concept that has been implemented in countries across the world, including the US, Malaysia and India. Asked whether VIP Engineering and Marketing was among the project implementers, Mr Tenga said it was true, adding that other institutions such as the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) and the National Housing Corporation (NHC) were free to join in the country’s economic transformation instead of concentrating in the construction of storied buildings.
“This project has nothing to do with tendering. Zitto is confusing it with the Mwambani Port, which is currently being developed by the government,” Mr Tenga added.
Reached advanced stage
Last week, Mr Tenga told editors that the multi-trillion Mwambani Economic Corridor Project in Tanga Region has reached an advanced stage after receiving support from both players—the governments of Tanzania, and the East and Central African countries.
The project, according to Mr Tenga, would among other things, involve construction of a deep sea and free port at Mwambani in Tanga City and a new heavy haul standard gauge railway to Kisangani, in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The $30billion project would be operated by Mwaporc, a project company to be managed by Tanzanian investors.
VIP Engineering would also team up with Mwaporc for the implementation of the project. “Local entities and persons shall be given an opportunity to co-own shares and other securities via listings and cross listings on Capital Markets and Securities,” Mr Tenga said. He added that they have so far carried out foundation training of core project management, office professionals, comprehensive project scoping studies, Internal financial modelling and viability analysis.
There were also comprehensive terms of reference for pre-feasibility studies and early development or quick wins identification and that the comprehensive draft project Agreement for Tanzania has been completed, said Mr Tenga. He revealed that the government has authorised the development of the project and a project agreement is ready for review.
The Citizen understands that so far the government of Burundi has signed a Comprehensive Memorandum of Understanding with Mwaporc authorising the corridor through Burundi, the DRC government has expressed support and Uganda is on board too.
He said that during implementation of the project, the development of a Hub Port and Free Port coupled with a heavy haul railway linking Tanzania to the rich markets of east-central Africa will result in immense social-economic prosperity for Tanzania. “We are trying to build this corridor in a way that has never been seen before here.”
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