The Saga continues

BAK · 2007-12-25T15:24:30+00:00

Kwa zaidi ya siku nne waandishi wa habari wameshindwa kupata ukweli kutoka kwa Rais, Waziri wa fedha na maofisa wa juu wa BOT kuhusiana ukweli wa kujiuzulu Gavana wa BOT, Ballali. Hii inaonyesha ni jinsi gani tulivyo na uongozi mbovu Tanzania. It's impossible for more than 4 days top officials of the Govt to know nothing about the truth whether BOT Governor has resigned or not. Ballali: BoT finally comes out of its shell By Richard Mgamba and Polycap Machira THE CITIZEN The Bank of Tanzania said yesterday that Dr Daudi Ballali was still BoT governor, four days after it was first reported that he had resigned. As far as the institution is concerned, Governor Ballali is still at the helm,BoT said in a statement signed by Mr Joseph Mhando, one of the directors in the governor's office. It added that BoT had not received any communication from the appointing authority, who is the President, on the rumoured resignation of Dr Ballali. However, the three-paragraph BoT statement answered just one of the five crucial questions posed by The Citizen yesterday regarding the controversy surrounding Dr Ballali's status. It said Dr Ballali's medical bill in the US would be settled by BoT and his personal health insurer, who was, however, not named. The statement further said that the BoT governor went to the US in August, this year, and it was decided that he be admitted to hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, following a medical check-up. Yesterday we listed five questions that begged for answers after Dr Ballali disappeared from public view four months ago and reports that he had resigned on medical grounds. First on the list of questions begging for answers is the name of the hospital where the BoT governor has been hospitalised for over three months now. Neither the Government nor BoT has stated openly which hospital Dr Ballali has been admitted to, apart from saying that he is in Boston, the US, undergoing treatment. Government sources told The Citizen over the weekend that Dr Ballali's health and whereabouts were not supposed to be regarded as a top secret in view of the importance of post he was holding. They were, however, not ready to provide details or be identified, citing the sensitivity of the issue since the news broke that Dr Ballali had tendered his resignation. However, other sources said the public deserved to know exactly what was happening. The second question that has yet to be adequately answered is what Dr Ballali is suffering from. Nobody within the Government has stated what is ailing Dr Ballali. Last week, it was only briefly reported that Dr Ballali had undergone major surgery and had been directed to rest for six months. Nobody, even within the BoT, knows or is willing to disclose exactly what's wrong with our boss we don't have any idea what our boss is suffering from, a senior BoT official told The Citizen. Being a public figure, taxpayers would also like to know whether he has been getting good care, hence the question: who is footing his medical bill? Dr Ballali has so far spent over three months in Boston. Staying abroad for more than a month for treatment is very expensive this man has stayed there for three months and it is highly likely that he will there stay for much longer. Who is footing this bill? Opposition politician Dr Willibrod Slaa asked. Dr Ballali left the country for the US to undergo what BoT said was a routine medical checkup. But with his resignation coinciding with the completion and handing over of a report on an investigation into BoT's External Payments Arrears (EPA), the fourth question arises. Was it a coincident that Dr Ballali resigned at this particular time or was it a pre-emptive move ahead of the outcome of the investigation? The way the whole issue of Dr Ballali's resignation was handled leaves a lot to be desired. It is not clear why the Government has not given a categorical statement following reports that the sensitive post was vacant. It is four days since reports of Dr Ballali's resignation on account of poor health appeared in the local media. The Government only says that it has no official communication on Dr Ballali�s resignation. State House also maintained on Friday that no official communication had reached the President regarding Dr Ballali's resignation. State House director of communications Salva Rweyemamu said: So far we have no official communication about this matter. We've only read about his resignation in some newspapers that's all I can say, Mr Rweyemamu told The Citizen. Reached for comment, Ms Meghji also took the same line, saying she was not aware that the BoT governor had resigned, and dismissed the reports as rumours. However, sources within BoT told The Citizen that the Government was seeking to establish who leaked reports of Dr Ballali's resignation. Some top BoT officials have been under severe pressure with the Government demanding to know who leaked the information to the media, a BoT official told The Citizen. They (Government) also want to establish the motive behind the leakage we are terrified by the whole situation. Sources within the BoT told The Citizen that Dr Ballali tendered his resignation letter last Wednesday. Asked during an interview at State House on the same day whether Dr Ballali had fled to the US, President Kikwete said: As far as I am concerned, Governor Ballali is in the US for treatment. Dr Ballali has been under pressure from the Opposition, which has accused him of presiding over massive thefts and corruption at BoT. Issues that have brought BoT under scrutiny in recent years include the construction of the Twin Towers at a cost of $400 million (Sh480 billion) and the EPA scam. Dr Slaa said the EPA scandal alone had cost taxpayers about $800 million (Sh960 billion).

Thread starter BAK
Start date Dec 25, 2007

BAK

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