PRESIDENT John Magufuli has ordered three ambassadors to return home immediately while revoking with immediate effect the appointments of the Director General of the National Identification Authority (NIDA), Mr Dickson Maimu, and Katavi Regional Administrative Secretary, Engineer Madeni Kipande.
Addressing a press conference in Dar es Salaam, the Chief Secretary, Ambassador Ombeni Sefue, named the envoys who have been given ‘marching’ orders as Dr Batilda Buriani, who was in Tokyo, Japan and Dr James Msekela, who was in Rome, Italy.
“The two ambassadors should hand over their duties today (yesterday) and subordinate a principal officer or any senior officer and start packing their belongings ready for the return home,” Ambassador Sefue further said, adding that the contracts of service for the two have already expired.
In a related event, the chief secretary said that the president has also ordered the High Commissioner in the United Kingdom, Mr Peter Kallage, to return home and report to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, East African, Regional and International Cooperation, where he would be assigned other duties. He pointed out that following the decision by the president, six embassies abroad would remain vacant.
Apart from embassies occupied by the said three ambassadors, others include Belgium, following the election to parliament of the country’s ambassador in the European country, Dr Diodorus Kamala.
Others are Malaysia, which was occupied by the then Ambassador, Dr Azizi Mlima, who has been appointed Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, East African, Regional and International Cooperation, following the retirement of Ambassador Francis Malambugi.
“The president will fill the vacancies at an appropriate time,” Ambassador Sefue said.
He further reported that the president has appointed the former Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Mr Mahadhi Juma Maalim, as the new Ambassador to Kuwait.
Giving more details on NIDA, the chief secretary said apart from Mr Maimu, the president has also suspended four other senior officers from the authority to give way for further investigations on how 179.6bn/- were spent during registration of national identification cards.
He named the officials as Joseph Makani, who is Information Technology Director, Ms Rahel Mapande, Chief Procurement Officer, Ms Sabrina Nyoni, Legal Director, and Mr George Ntalima, who is the authority’s Transportation Officer.
“The information that reached the president shows that NIDA has so far spent 179.6bn/-. This amount is colossal and the president has preferred an investigation to find out how the amount was spent since he has been receiving complaints from the people on the slow pace of issuing national identification cards,” he said.
According to Ambassador Sefue, the president has directed the Controller and Auditor General (CAG) and the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) to conduct an audit on expenditure of the money and procurement transactions, respectively.
He further said that the president also directed the Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau (PCCB) to investigate on the matter to see whether there were any corruption elements on the matter.
Regarding Eng Kipande, who was Tanzania Ports Authority (TPA) acting Director General before becoming RAS in Katavi Region, Ambassador Sefue revealed that the president revoked his appointment as he was not satisfied with work performance.
Ambassador Sefue also took such opportunity to remind all leaders in the civil service and all other civil servants to change their working behaviour and perform their official duties with due diligence.
He pointed out that the president and other officers who were assisting him did not feel good when disciplinary measures have to be taken against leaders and civil servants.
“We would wish to see all those who have been entrusted with positions of trust to conduct themselves ethically and save the president from having to be driven to the point of taking such actions,” he said.
Ambassador Sefue briefed reporters on the guidelines that have to be followed, including the need for every leader and every disciplinary authority not to hesitate to supervise work performance and ethics and take the necessary remedial measures in the course of enforcing the law, regulations and other civil service procedures.
He further directed that every leadership in public offices should attend the people by observing justice, diligence, skills and respect. For that matter, he added, every government office should establish a desk for attending to the people’s grievances and finding lasting solutions to them.
Ambassador Sefue further directed each civil servant to wear a name tag for easy identification to the people that they serve.
He pointed out that by the end of March this year; such directive should be complied with -- meaning that no civil servant should be seen without having a name tag on him or her by then.
/Daily News.
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