Tanzania. Hypocracy over BAE

Daily News Irrationality or British arrogance?

THE wrangling between Britain and Tanzania on the modality of remitting 46 million US dollars (over 60bn/-), swindled from the government by the British BAE Systems, is costing Tanzanians doubly, unnecessarily.

The plan announced by Foreign Affairs Minister Bernard Membe to send a team of senior officials to London, ostensibly to negotiate the release of the fine money to the government entails avoidable expenditure. Britain can save Tanzanian taxpayers that wastage by acting rationally and returning the money where it belongs.

Indeed, the suggestion to channel the cash to charity organisations is insulting to the Tanzania government, to say the least. It is a suggestion that the government is irresponsible and wasteful, such that it cannot be trusted with money, the implication being that the charity organisations are more trustworthy.

That is truly unkind to a popularly-elected government of a sovereign state. It was the same British arrogance that was used to colonise Africa and later to delay granting our countries independence. The pretext was that Africans were not capable of doing anything on their own, let alone self rule. But it is a matter of record that such excuse was deliberately used to plunder our resources and turn our countries into permanent markets for European manufactures.

It may well be that the charity organisations to which London wishes to hand the Tanzanian taxpayers’ money are British, which would be a perfect ploy to ensure the money returns to Britain. And why doesn’t the British standard for remittance of BAE Systems fines apply to the US? While Tanzania is being lectured to accept its money back through NGOs, the government in Washington will be paid directly!

We think Mr Membe has made it abundantly clear that Britain has no right to impose conditions for the return of the money stolen from the Tanzania government. The two countries enjoy cordial relations built on mutual respect and there is absolutely no reason for London to rock the boat.