tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-78634391903465611852024-02-06T20:12:08.413-08:00THE SILVERDALE CASEThis is the story of British investors Stewart Middleton and Sarah Hermitage driven from Tanzania by violence, abuse and intimidation instigated by Benjamin Mengi which included a vicious defamation campaign by IPP Media a powerful media house owned by his brother Reginald Mengi. Reginald Mengi sued Sarah Hermitage for Libel in London in 2010 for posts in this Blog. On 30th November 2012 the High Court ruled that Reginald Mengi was complicit in his brother’s corruption and intimidation.ragamuffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05482861108057630824noreply@blogger.comBlogger433125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7863439190346561185.post-45688373196000093982016-07-14T14:24:00.002-07:002016-07-14T14:31:00.759-07:00The Financial Times: Reginald Mengi & principles of "authority, integrity and accuracy" .<div style="text-align: justify;">
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Corruption is never about individuals per se but more about those that give it impunity and why.</h2>
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On its Internet site, The Financial Times (FT) describes itself as "one of the world’s leading news organisations, recognised globally for its authority, integrity and accuracy" which provides news, comment, data and analysis, to a growing audience of internationally minded professionals.</div>
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Yesterday it published an interview (below) with Reginald Mengi of Tanzania which the paper describes as a "media mogul" and "one of Tanzania's richest businesspeople" hoping for an end to corruption. The FT portray Mr Mengi as a man that has suffered at the hands of corruption reporting him as stating he has lost out on at least two big deals due to corruption. </div>
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What the FT does not report was that Reginald Mengi was, in 2012 in the London High Court found complicit in the corruption of his brother Benjamin that led to the destruction and theft of legitimate UK investment in Tanzania. The following press release from Media Lawyers Carter Ruck sums up the corruption as follows:-</div>
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<i>Press Release <br />Date: 30 November 2012 <br />Sarah Hermitage Libel Defence Upheld <br />Silverdale Farm Blog Justified </i></div>
<i><br />At the High Court in London today, Mr Justice Bean delivered Judgment in favour of Sarah Hermitage, who had been sued for libel by the wealthy Tanzanian businessman, Reginald Mengi, the Executive Chairman of IPP Ltd, a company which holds major newspaper and broadcasting interests in Tanzania. </i><br />
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<i>Reginald Mengi sued in respect of five postings on Sarah Hermitage’s Silverdale Farm blog and two emails she had sent, which Mr Mengi claimed to be false and defamatory of him. </i></div>
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<i> <br />During the trial, the Court heard unchallenged evidence from Sarah Hermitage and her husband, Stewart Middleton, as to how they were by threats, intimidation and corruption driven from Tanzania and forced to abandon the investment they had made in their farm, Silverdale, of which Reginald Mengi’s younger brother, Benjamin, then took possession. The Court was told that a major factor in the ordeal they suffered was the hostile and defamatory coverage their case received from the IPP-owned English language Guardian and the Swahili Nipashe newspapers. Reginald Mengi, in the course of his evidence, repeatedly stated that he “was not responsible, not accountable and not answerable” for the editorial content of IPP publications. </i></div>
<i><br />In giving Judgment, Mr Justice Bean ruled: </i><br />
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<i>“I find that the campaign in the Guardian and Nipashe facilitated Benjamin’s corruption of local officials and intimidation of the Middletons and thus helped Benjamin to destroy their investments and grab their properties; and that Mr [Reginald] Mengi, since he either encouraged or knowingly permitted the campaign, was in that sense complicit in Benjamin’s corruption and intimidation. The allegation is thus substantially true, and justified at common law.” </i></div>
<i><br />After handing down judgment Mr Justice Bean ordered that Reginald Mengi should pay the defence costs at the higher “indemnity” rate. In reaching this decision, the factors cited by the Judge included that Counsel for Sarah Hermitage had “rightly described the litigation as “oppressive”, that “enormous costs had been thrown at the case from the beginning, indeed before the issue of proceedings” and that the evidence of the Claimant and his witnesses had in a number of respects been “misleading and untrue.” </i><br />
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Mr Mengi was refused leave to appeal this Judgement by Buxton LJ on the basis that he and his witnesses "mislead" the court. That means lied!</div>
<i><br />Mr Justice Bean ordered that Reginald Mengi should pay £1.2million on account of Sarah Hermitage’s legal costs, which will be subject to detailed assessment by the court in due course. </i><br />
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<i>Enquiries to Andrew Stephenson, Carter-Ruck, Tel: 020 7353 5005</i></div>
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Reginald Mengi at the London High Court in 2012 after losing a case thought to have cost him in excess of £3 million</div>
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The FT is a leading authority on the safety or otherwise of investment destinations to the business world. Reginald Mengi is chairman of the Tanzanian Private Sector Foundation in Tanzania which facilitates and advises on foreign direct investment. It is left to the reader to decide why, the FT in pursuing principles of "authority, integrity and accuracy" should 1) wish to interview Mr Mengi in the first place and 2) why they should omit the above relevant information, clearly in the public interest from the article.</div>
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Corruption is never about individuals per se but more about those that give it impunity and why.</div>
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Interview with Tanzanian media mogul Reginald Mengi</span></h2>
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<span style="color: black;">One of Tanzania’s richest businesspeople sees hope for end to graft</span></div>
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<i>The personal website of Reginald Mengi — the tycoon who, over 30 years, has accumulated interests in print and broadcast media, manufacturing, soft drinks, mining and technology — suggests </i><a data-trackable="link" href="http://www.ft.com/topics/places/Tanzania"><span style="color: #27757b;"><i>Tanzania</i></span></a><i> is and always has been an open economy where it is easy to do business.</i><br />
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<i>But two hours with the softly spoken businessman, who is one of the country’s richest people, reveals a very different picture. Despite Tanzania’s economy growing at more than 7 per cent a year, Mr Mengi says widespread graft has left it resembling a piece of fabric that is riddled by holes. “You touch here there’s a hole, you touch here there’s a hole,” he says prodding the tablecloth over lunch in a Dar es Salaam hotel. “You touch this ministry there’s a hole, you touch this functionary … everywhere is full of holes.” Mr Mengi says he has lost out on at least two big deals due to corruption.</i></div>
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<i>It is not just corruption that has hampered Tanzania’s economic growth; it was ruled for decades by socialists who regularly stifled entrepreneurialism, Mr Mengi says. The businessman recounts how in the 1980s there were widespread shortages due to the government promoting policies that favoured domestic produce over imports. “People would queue for anything and things were very very tough,” he says. It was this scarcity that prompted Mr Mengi — then working at UK accountancy Coopers & Lybrand, now PwC — to go into business in the 1980s, assembling ballpoint pens. “At that time it was very difficult to import ready-made goods. Fortunately the system allowed the importation of components or knocked-down goods that you could assemble locally.”</i></div>
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<i>Mr Mengi eventually acquired the financing and the components and navigated the bureaucracy to launch his business. He describes how he made money by producing shoe polish out of charcoal during the shortages. But he says that decades of socialism have had a significant impact on society. “People don’t see opportunities in things,” he says. “We have so much in Tanzania people need help to see the opportunities which are there.” The economy did open up in the late 1990s under President Benjamin Mkapa. But Mr Mengi says the policies ushered in an era of crony capitalism</i></div>
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<i>By last year the situation “had reached tipping point”, according to Mr Mengi, and he is relieved that the new president, John Magufuli, has prioritised fighting corruption. Mr Mengi acknowledges the president has yet to articulate his economic vision, but he understands why this has taken time. “If someone has a heart attack what do you do? Poop poop poop, you try and revive them. You don’t think, ‘Shall I give them a Panadol?’” he says while miming using a defibrillator. Despite painting a gloomy picture, Mr Mengi says businesspeople should not be too downcast about the current “bad times”. “People with guts will make a lot of money in bad times, a lot of money,” he insists. “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. You can say this is good times or bad times depending on the beholder.”</i></div>
<footer class="n-content-copyright"><br /></footer>ragamuffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05482861108057630824noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7863439190346561185.post-4696709807242789202014-11-28T07:48:00.001-08:002014-11-28T07:49:51.325-08:00British government and its contempt for High Court Ruling, Mengi v Hermitage 2012<p> </p> <p align="justify"><font size="3" face="Calibri">In November 2014, The Foreign and Commonwealth Office organised a trip to Tanzania in order to promote Tanzania to British businessmen as a country for foreign direct investment.</font></p> <p align="justify"><font size="3" face="Calibri">The responsibility of the UKTI in respect of British business in Tanzania (as stated on it’s Internet site </font><a title="https://www.gov.uk/government/world/organisations/uk-trade-investment-tanzania" href="https://www.gov.uk/government/world/organisations/uk-trade-investment-tanzania"><font size="3" face="Calibri">https://www.gov.uk/government/world/organisations/uk-trade-investment-tanzania</font></a><font size="3" face="Calibri">) is to help companies in Britain increase their competitiveness through overseas trade in Tanzania... offering professional, authoritative & personalised assistance.</font></p> <p align="justify"><font size="3" face="Calibri">The British High Commission’s Internet site in Tanzania states the following:-</font></p> <p align="justify"><em><font size="3" face="Calibri">UKTI's team in the country can provide market information, contacts, practical assistance, i.e. arranging appointments, advice, mentoring and on-going help before they travel to Tanzania and while they are in the market.</font></em></p> <p><font size="3" face="Calibri">In November, David Billingsby, UKTI International Trade Adviser lead a delegation of businessmen to Tanzania stating, “having worked in Tanzania before, I know the excellence of the reception these British companies will receive. I am certain that the mission will be successful and the delegates will be saying <em>Asante sana</em>!” </font> <p><em><strong><a href="http://dewjiblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Untitled8.jpg"><font size="3" face="Calibri"><img style="float: none; margin-left: auto; display: block; margin-right: auto" alt="Untitled" src="http://dewjiblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Untitled8.jpg" width="306" height="209"></font></a></strong></em></p> <p align="center"><em><font size="3" face="Calibri"><strong><font size="2">David Bilingsby (right) Head of the UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) London/South East Trade Mission to Tanzania fields questions from journalists during a press conference</font></strong></font></em> <p align="justify"><font size="3" face="Calibri">He led 14 UK companies cutting across various sectors e.g. Education and Training, Security, Consultancy, Healthcare amongst others are hoping to penetrate new trade opportunities within Tanzania.</font> <p align="justify"><font size="3" face="Calibri">Whilst in Tanzania, in a move to encouraged British business in Tanzania (this was the purpose of the delegation) the British government arranged for the British business delegates to meet with Reginald Mengi. Reginald Mengi is Chairman of the Private Sector Foundation in Tanzania and is owner of the powerful IPP Media network.</font></p> <p align="justify"><font size="3" face="Calibri">More importantly, Reginald Mengi is a man who was found by the UK High court to be complicit in corruption that destroyed British investment in Tanzania. The seriousness of the corruption is stated in a press release from lawyers carter Ruck who defended British investor in Tanzania Sarah Hermitage when Mengi sued her in the London High Court in 2012. The judge found that Reginald Mengi and his witnesses and lied to and misled the court with LJ Bean stating:- </font></p> <p align="justify"><strong><font size="3" face="Calibri">“I find that the campaign in the Guardian and Nipashe facilitated Benjamin’s corruption of local officials and intimidation of the Middletons and thus helped Benjamin to destroy their investments and grab their properties; and that Mr [Reginald] Mengi, since he either encouraged or knowingly permitted the campaign, was in that sense complicit in Benjamin’s corruption and intimidation”.</font></strong></p> <p align="justify"><a title="http://www.carter-ruck.com/Documents/Hermitage_Press_Release-301112.pdf" href="http://www.carter-ruck.com/Documents/Hermitage_Press_Release-301112.pdf"><font size="3" face="Calibri">http://www.carter-ruck.com/Documents/Hermitage_Press_Release-301112.pdf</font></a></p> <p align="justify"><font color="#000000" size="3" face="Calibri">The ceaseless, savage and vile abuse the British investors suffered at the hands of the Mengi family can be read in the judgment at the following link.</font></p> <p align="justify"><a title="http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/QB/2012/3445.html" href="http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/QB/2012/3445.html">http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/QB/2012/3445.html</a></p> <p align="justify"><font face="Calibri"><font size="3"><font color="#000000">The British government and David Bilingsby show utter contempt to the British investors, to the rule of law and civil society and to Lord Justice Bean whose judgment their conduct belies.</font></font></font></p> <p align="justify"><font color="#000000" size="3" face="Calibri">It is also suggested here, that HMG and the FCO has been negligent in it’s duty to inform and protect British investors in Tanzania. </font></p> <p align="justify"><font color="#000000" size="3" face="Calibri">In the Independent newspaper on 28th November Mengi stated that he was “gratified” to meet the UKTI mission and that LJ Bean’s judgement was “faulty”. </font></p> <p align="justify"><font color="#000000" size="3" face="Calibri">That, says a great deal about the British government and its commitment to protect British investors overseas.</font></p> ragamuffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05482861108057630824noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7863439190346561185.post-87273826517756790632014-11-09T14:54:00.002-08:002014-11-09T15:04:05.771-08:00British couple attack trade mission to Tanzania after death threats <span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<img alt="The Independent" src="http://www.independent.co.uk/independent.co.uk/assets/images/redesign/masthead/indy-new-masthead-800x64.png" height="31" title="The Independent" width="400" /><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">British couple attack trade mission to Tanzania after death threats</span> <br />
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<strong>Sarah Hermitage and Stewart Middleton say Britain is dishonestly promoting East African country as a safe place to invest </strong><br />
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The Government's drive to promote trade with Tanzania has been attacked after a British couple claimed that a campaign of harassment drove them out of the country. They recently made a police complaint over a death threat daubed at their house in Kent, responsibility for which is unclear.<br />
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Sarah Hermitage and her husband, Stewart Middleton, have attacked a recent UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) mission to the country, after they were forced to abandon their farm in Kilimanjaro. They are now seeking to take the Tanzanian government to court over what they say was its failure to protect them in a corrupt business environment, including the actions of a local businessman, Benjamin Mengi, and his media magnate brother, Reginald Mengi.<br />
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The couple purchased the lease of Silverdale Farm from Benjamin Mengi, a Tanzanian citizen, in 2004 to establish a sustainable farming project employing 150 people. However, Mr Mengi disputed the deal the following year, at which point the couple claim he began a campaign of threats and intimidation, including death threats, which damaged their property. <br />
The couple also believe that a machete attack which left one of their staff permanently crippled was also connected to the dispute.<br />
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Last week, the couple, who fled Tanzania in 2008 and relocated to Kent, reacted furiously after it emerged that UKTI led a trade delegation of 14 British firms to the East African country last week. Ms Hermitage said: "It is dishonest of the Government to promote Tanzania as a safe place for British investment … We suffered four years of savage brutality and abuse of law in Tanzania, unimaginable to most in my country, and it continues. It was instigated by powerful individuals, but facilitated by the Tanzanian government."<br />
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<img alt="Andrew Mitchell" src="http://www.independent.co.uk/incoming/article9849295.ece/alternates/w460/28-Mitchell-AFP-Getty.jpg" height="240" title="Andrew Mitchell" width="320" /><br />
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This April, three days after coverage of the case in a national newspaper, the couple's home was broken into and a death threat daubed on furniture in their bedroom. The threat said, "Kill Sarah", and included five cemetery cross symbols. According to Ms Hermitage, this "clear death threat" came after the couple made clear their intention to pursue a multimillion- pound case against Tanzania in the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) at the World Bank; the following month, Ms Hermitage's lawyer wrote to the chief constable of Kent Police advising him of the "on-going dispute with the government of Tanzania".<br />
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He detailed how the couple had been "subjected to a sustained campaign of violence and harassment" in Tanzania, including threats that they would be shot or "cut to pieces" and sent home "in a coffin".<br />
He continued that Ms Hermitage and Mr Middleton had "sought to bring attention to their treatment" and, as a result, had become known as anti-corruption advocates in the media. However, both Reginald and Benjamin Mengi have strongly denied any knowledge of the Kent break-in.<br />
Ms Hermitage was also concerned that a man she believed to be a Tanzania Intelligence and Security Services (TISS) agent attended an anti-corruption lecture she gave in London a month after the break-in.<br />
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Steven Finizio, of the WilmerHale legal firm which represents the couple, said the planned ICSID case is an attempt to bring the Tanzanian government to account for failing to protect the British investors, including from what he described as "real threats of death" that forced them to flee the country.<br />
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He said: "The warning I would give smaller firms seeking to operate in Tanzania is that the recourses to law may not be there for you in the same way as large-scale investors. The Government may be there to help you if there is trouble on the ground, but, after that, it may place a priority on other concerns, including its relationship with the Tanzanian government."<br />
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Last month's UKTI mission follows a Downing Street meeting between David Cameron and the President of Tanzania, Jakaya Kikwete, in April, which came after the two countries announced a "high-level prosperity partnership".<br />
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Ms Hermitage described Britain's charm offensive in East Africa as "dishonest", saying her case "illustrates a climate of governance in Tanzania that discourages private investment and works against the promotion of the well-being of Tanzania's own citizens". She added: "The Government's failure to hold the Tanzanians to account for this is indefensible."<br />
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The UK trade mission met with a Tanzanian trade body chaired by Reginald Mengi, who is the 34th richest man in Africa, according to Forbes. In 2012, he sued Sarah Hermitage in Britain for libel over comments made on her blog about the farm case. In a damning High Court ruling in Ms Hermitage's favour, Mr Justice Bean said a campaign by Mr Mengi's newspapers "facilitated Benjamin's corruption of local officials and intimidation of the Middletons and thus helped Benjamin to destroy their investments and grab their properties". <br />
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He added that, in his newspapers' defamatory campaign, Reginald was "complicit in Benjamin's corruption and intimidation".<br />
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Ms Hermitage and Mr Middleton have also received support from the former British high commissioner in neighbouring Kenya, Sir Edward Clay, who clashed with Andrew Mitchell, the then International Development Secretary, over the case. Sir Edward said the Government had "been unwilling to listen" to Ms Hermitage's complaints. He said: "I think it is fair to say that the present government's emphasis on the prosperity agenda in their foreign policy has trumped other considerations, except on the very largest issues."<br />
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Reginald Mengi said he was "gratified" to meet the UKTI mission. He added that Ms Hermitage's proposed court case is a matter for the Tanzanian government and said he viewed the 2012 libel judgment against him as "faulty". He categorically denied knowing about any alleged death threats against Ms Hermitage or that he had been contacted by police or anyone else about the allegations.<br />
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His brother Benjamin said: "None of the allegations, that I intimidated or filed vexatious litigation, is true. I was totally within my rights to file cases in civil courts and report what I believed to be criminal acts … to the police and I did not use corruption or any other form of influence at any stage of seeking to enforce my rights. It is not true that I arranged for the Middletons to be harmed and I am not aware of any police record of such an allegation being made … I am not aware and have nothing to do with any house-breaking or death threats against Sarah Hermitage."<br />
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Amos Msanjila, a spokesperson for the Tanzania High Commission in London, confirmed that a consular official attended a lecture event where Ms Hermitage spoke, but denied it was a member of TISS. <br />
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A UKTI spokesperson said the Government was working to make sure British companies understood the "various challenges" facing investors in Tanzania.ragamuffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05482861108057630824noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7863439190346561185.post-25835063692966699762014-10-24T07:38:00.000-07:002014-10-24T10:56:12.625-07:00Tanzania: The Politics of Hypocrisy<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace; font-size: 12pt;">With
traditional energy markets embroiled in conflict and subsequent unreliability,
world powers are turning to Africa to secure the natural resources required to
fuel their economies. However, this new <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">scramble
for Africa</i> brings further conflict, the conflict between civil society and
profit. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">In
August, President Obama hosted the </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">United States-Africa Leaders Summit’ in Washington
DC: A summit, to </span></span><a href="http://www.brookings.edu/blogs/africa-in-focus/posts/2014/01/23-africa-leaders-summit-kimenyi"><span lang="EN" style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">provide an
opportunity for the Obama administration to open a new chapter in U.S-Africa
relations</span></a><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> Journalist </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">Martin LeFevre states the Obama
Administration had two aims. To change the narrative about Africa and open the
Continent to American business providing an alternative to China’s extractive,
no-strings-attached model. “We don’t look to Africa simply for its natural
resources. We recognize Africa for its greatest resource which is its people
and its talents and its potential,” President Obama intoned unconvincingly.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"></span><br />
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">The
problem however, as Helen Epstein points out in her piece entitled “Africa’s
Slide Toward Disaster,” (</span><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/02/opinion/africas-slide-toward-disaster.html?_r=0"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="color: #0563c1; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/02/opinion/africas-slide-toward-disaster.html?_r=0</span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">) is that whilst the summit sought to highlight Africa’s development
successes and promote trade and investment on a continent rich in oil and
natural resources, Justice and the rule of law weren’t on the agenda. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A view forcefully reiterated by </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Hassan Shire Executive
Director of the East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project who points
out that some of the attending heads of state acquired or entrenched power by
unconscionable means. Many have brutally repressed the rights of their own
citizens and systematically targeted independent civil society voices that seeking
to hold them to account.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is these
voice Epstein states, so vital to Africa’s development, that were largely
excluded from the substantive discussions about America’s role in Africa’s
future.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"></span><br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Whilst there is no shortage of corporates, donors
and world leaders engaging in politics of the sieve with African leaders
thereby nurturing a culture of impunity, the day will come when they will be
faced with a choice between nepotistic interest and principles of civil
society. This will be a serious choice. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As Epstein states, </span><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">lavishing billions of dollars in
military and development aid on African states while failing to promote
justice, democracy and the rule of law, American policies have fostered a
culture of abuse and rebellion which must change before the continent is so
steeped in blood that there’s no way back.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"></span><br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">With the rise of terror organisation such as ISIS
and</span><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> </span></span><a href="https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=al%20shabaab&start=0&spell=1"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">al</span><span style="color: windowtext; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;"> shabaab</span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> in times when the United States and Western
governments vehemently trumpet their commitment to the protection of human
rights in countries where such organizations operate, how is this rhetoric
consistent with their eagerness to do business with African regimes that abuse
human rights on just about every level? How much will be too much if at all,
for companies such as BG Group Tanzania to pay for gas or for Ophir Energy to
pay for oil. More importantly when will governments such as the United Kingdom
place their rhetorical concern for human rights above British business interests.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">In a speech to the British Chamber of Commerce in March of this year,
former British Foreign Secretary William Hague told business leaders that extra
effort was required to maintain British prosperity, standards of living, and
sources of jobs for the next generation. We are tackling our problems at home
and using foreign policy to seek out new economic opportunity for our country
he said. But at what cost?</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"></span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">In April </span><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Hague met President Kikwete in London commending him on Tanzania’s growing
partnership with the UK on human rights and good governance.</span><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: Dotum; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-themecolor: text1;"> Yet
due to the high levels of corruption in Tanzania, the administration of justice
is not fit for purpose. The very institutions mandated to protect the rights of
the people are, through a culture of corruption and impunity, used to deny
them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is as if Justice is bought and
sold on the open market. Those who don’t have access to power do not have
access to justice. Importantly, Tanzania is not recorded as a country for
concern in respect of human rights by the British government. This presents </span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: Dotum; mso-themecolor: text1;">a clear dichotomy
between the UK government's praise of the Kikwete regime and the reality on the
ground in Tanzania. </span></span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: Dotum; mso-themecolor: text1;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"></span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">In November 2012 UK’s Daily Telegraph
newspaper published an article written by its then Assistant City Editor
Jonathan Russell claiming it had seen a letter sent to DFID by shareholders</span><span style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> in UK-listed
companies operating in Tanzania asking for part of its <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">£151m aid budget to be used to tackle the growing corruption in the
country in order to </span>safeguard UK investments in Tanzania. The letter
expressed serious concern for<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the
“….on-going trend towards deterioration of title, protection of companies basic
rights, challenges to agreements made under Tanzania mining code with the
Government and seemingly arbitrary demands for “windfall” payments.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If true, this is a grave indictment indeed,
not only on DFIDS development policy but on the Tanzanian government’s
willingness and/or capacity to promote a conducive investor environment through
the rule of law.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"></span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Simply,
the </span><span style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">UK
government does all but lick the boots of Kikwete’s governance yet demonstrates
no serious policy of holding said governance to account for its appalling
governance and human rights record. Why?</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Well a clue is in the remainder of Hague’s speech. He </span><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">commended the growing
partnership between the UK and Tanzania on trade and investment, defence and
security and governance noting that it provided significant opportunities for
British businesses. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He cited two
projects in particular. The signing of a memorandum of understanding between BG
Group, Ophir Energy and the Tanzanian Petroleum Development Corporation, on the
potential development of a multi-billion pound onshore liquefied natural gas
plant; and an agreement between UK company Aldwych International and the
Tanzanian authorities on development of a £175 million wind farm.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Whilst the British government continues to lavish
praise on Kikwete’s governance ignoring rising corruption and Tanzania’s
appalling human rights record, it is nurturing a culture of impunity which will
at some point have disastrous consequences upon civil society. As Epstein so
aptly states, “</span><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">the best guarantee of peace and prosperity is justice and indifference to
it, for whatever reason creates the very disasters the West wishes to avoid.
The West must use all means, including aid cuts, trade sanctions, travel bans
and forceful public statements, to punish governments that abuse their own
people — before it’s too late”. Her comments could not be more apt in the light
of the sweep of organizations such as ISIS and Al Shabaab across the Middle
East and Africa.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"></span><br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">DFID states and clearly has a duty to show that it
is achieving value for money in everything it does and promises the British tax
payer results, transparency, accountability and value for money for every pound
spent on development. However, research based evidence states that DFID is not
meeting its purpose, is failing the British tax payer and the citizens of
Tanzania in a manner that begs the question, what is the present quid pro quo
in respect of British Aid to Tanzania as it continues to pour billions of
dollars of tax payer’s money into a corrupt regime with an appalling human
rights record.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">
</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"></span><br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Director of the East and Horn of Africa Human
Rights Defenders America </span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #555555; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Hassan
Shire,</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> reminds
us of the obvious, i.e. human rights, democracy, free and fair elections, and
the rights to freedoms of expression, association, and assembly are not western
constructs. They are universal human rights, belonging to Africans just as much
as they belong to the West. Failing to hold corrupt governments to account in a
manner demonstrated by British foreign policy in Tanzania i.e. by politics of
hypocrisy, denies those rights and erodes civil society and the rule of law.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"></span><br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">This is indefensible both in respect of the British
Tax payer and the people of Tanzania.</span></span></div>
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ragamuffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05482861108057630824noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7863439190346561185.post-31252656081143872122014-07-17T05:48:00.001-07:002014-10-24T07:39:26.028-07:00 Tullow Oil Uganda v Silverdale Farm,Tanzania.<br />
<div align="justify">
<span style="font-size: small;">In 2012 Tullow Oil became engaged in a commercial dispute in Uganda regarding capital gains tax. </span><span style="font-size: small;">Following the 2012 completion of the farm-down of 66 per cent of its’ exploration interests it was issued with a capital gains tax assessment of $472m. Tullow disputed the assessment.</span></div>
<div align="justify">
<span style="font-size: small;">There is no intention here to comment on the details of the dispute save to say there was/is one, it involving considerable sums of money and direct lobbying to President Museveni on the company’s behalf by the British government.</span></div>
<div align="justify">
<span style="font-size: small;">In 2004 British investors Sarah Hermitage and Stewart Middleton invested in the agricultural sector in Tanzania purchasing the lease to Silverdale and Mbono Farms just outside the town of Moshi in the Kilimanjaro area of Tanzania. They purchased the lease from Benjamin Mengi brother to IPP Media owner Reginald Mengi.</span> <div align="justify">
<span style="font-size: small;">Stewart Middleton was born and raised in Zambia and he is an agronomist of note and an expert in small holder farming. His plans for the farms were to obtain EurepGAP certification as a matter of priority. EurepGAP certification improves market access to the European Union. Obtaining such certification is a rigorous and complex process, and is crucial for exporting internationally, particularly to the European Union. Achieving certification involves meeting rigid requirements regarding food safety (i.e., traceability of food source, limited use of fertilizers, and product handling), environmental standards (i.e., waste management, pollution management, and site management), and social responsibility (i.e., appropriate facilities for employees, health and safety standards, and grievance procedures). No farm in Tanzania had obtained EurepGAP certification at the time.</span> <div align="justify">
<span style="font-size: small;">Middleton’s investments in infrastructure and his farm management skills immediately began to transform unproductive land into a revenue-generating, productive commercial farm. Within one year Silverdale was employing approximately 150 local employees and was realizing significant net monthly revenues from crop exports alone. Silverdale and Mbono Farms under Middleton’s management were indeed the first farms in Tanzania to receive EurepGAP accreditation. Whilst the investors did not have the economic clout of Tullow Oil, they provided sustainable development in a manner encouraged and promoted by British foreign policy.</span> <div align="justify">
<span style="font-size: small;">Shortly after purchasing the lease and making improvements to the farms Benjamin Mengi began to make demands for more money stating he had not been paid in full for the lease. This despite the fact that he had signed a receipt for full payment in 2004. Mengi threatened Middleton with violence and the revocation of his residence permit if such extra sums were not paid to him and told him he would drive him from Tanzania by any means possible if necessary, cut to pieces in a coffin. The police here Mengi stated “are in my hands”.</span> <div align="justify">
<span style="font-size: small;">Middleton refused to abandon his investment and Mengi began a violent and destructive campaign to force Mr. Middleton from the farms and Tanzania. Mengi made it clear he intended to take the farms back, drive Middleton from the country and keep the money he had been paid for the assignment. His campaign of violence and harassment was facilitated by the government of Tanzania.</span> <div align="justify">
<span style="font-size: small;">The British couple and their Tanzanian staff faced a four year campaign of escalating violence and harassment, brutal attacks and death threats together with constant unlawful arrest and imprisonment of Middleton and his key Tanzanian staff. During the same period the farms were systematically vandalised and crops damaged, destroyed and stolen to a point where the farming unit and the couple’s investment were completely destroyed. </span> <div align="justify">
<span style="font-size: small;">Having faced almost five years of violet abuse of law, the couple fled Tanzania in 2009. As they left through the back door for fear of further arrest and imprisonment they were on the telephone to the the deputy British High Commission in Dar es Salaam who stated “so he [Benjamin Mengi] has finally done it has he”.</span> <div align="justify">
<span style="font-size: small;">Reginald Mengi is one of the most powerful and influential men in Tanzania. Both he and his brother Benjamin have strong influence in the Kilimanjaro region surrounding their hometown of Machame, including Moshi town. Their influence is national as reflected by the funeral for Benjamin Mengi’s wife, Millie Mengi, in 2010, which was attended by national and regional political figures, including the President of Tanzania, President Jakaya Kikwete.</span> <div align="justify">
<span style="font-size: small;">In 2012 Reginald Mengi sued Sarah Hermitage in the London High Court for libel in a case described by the judge as <em>oppressive</em> and thought to have cost him in excess of £3 mil. H</span><span style="font-size: small;">e sued </span><span style="font-size: small;">in respect of five postings on this blog (set up to highlight what had happened in Tanzania) and two emails she had sent, which Mr Mengi claimed to be false and defamatory of him. </span> <div align="justify">
<span style="font-size: small;">During the trial the Court heard unchallenged evidence from Hermitage and her husband as to how they were by threats, intimidation and corruption driven from Tanzania and forced to abandon the investment they had made in Silverdale Farm, of which Benjamin Mengi then took possession. </span></div>
<div align="justify">
<span style="font-size: small;">The Court was told that a major factor in the ordeal they suffered was the hostile and defamatory coverage their case received from IPP-owned English language Guardian and the Swahili Nipashe newspapers. Reginald Mengi, in the course of his evidence, repeatedly stated that he “was not responsible, not accountable and<br />not answerable” for the editorial content of IPP publications.</span></div>
<div align="justify">
<span style="font-size: small;">In giving Judgment, Mr Justice Bean ruled:</span></div>
<div align="justify">
<span style="font-size: small;">“I find that the campaign in the Guardian and Nipashe facilitated Benjamin’s corruption of local officials and intimidation of the Middletons and thus helped Benjamin to destroy their investments and grab their properties; and that Mr [Reginald] Mengi, since he either encouraged or knowingly permitted the campaign, was in that </span><span style="font-size: small;">sense complicit in Benjamin’s corruption and intimidation. </span></div>
<div align="justify">
<span style="font-size: small;">After handing down judgment Mr Justice Bean ordered that Reginald Mengi should pay the defence costs at the Higher “indemnity” rate. In reaching this decision, the factors cited by the Judge included that Counsel for Sarah Hermitage had “rightly described the litigation as “oppressive”, that “enormous costs had been thrown at the case from the beginning, indeed before the issue<br />of proceedings” and that the evidence of the Claimant and his witnesses had in a number of respects been “misleading and untrue.”</span></div>
<div align="justify">
<span style="font-size: small;">Hermitage referred to Mengi’s defamatory media campaign as journalistic terrorism. The judge did not agree stating her response had been proportionate, justified and without malice.</span></div>
<div align="justify">
<span style="font-size: small;">Shockingly, as Reginald Mengi sued Hermitage in the London High Court DFID (i.e. the British tax payer) had donated UK aid to IPP’s the Guardian newspaper to <em>improve investigative journalism. </em></span></div>
<div align="justify">
<span style="font-size: small;">Disregarding the personalities involved in the Silverdale Farm case (which the issues transcend), the case illuminates a fragile and corrupt business environment in Tanzania manipulated by powerful individuals close to the government and President Kikwete which brought about t</span><span style="font-size: small;">he total destruction of bona fide British investment in a country the British government is promoting as a destination for investment and with whom it has signed multi million pound energy contracts.</span></div>
<div align="justify">
<span style="font-size: small;">The British government will not lobby President Kikwete on behalf of the investors stating the issue is a commercial dispute and HMG cannot intervene in commercial disputes. Further, it represents the couple have legal proceedings pending in Tanzania which again prevents it from intervening.</span></div>
<div align="justify">
<span style="font-size: small;">Conversely, Her Majesty’s Government takes a different view on the Tullow Oil case: Also a dispute and one where the company did initiate legal proceedings with the government of Uganda. Despite this and mid </span><span style="font-size: small;">legal proceedings, the British government intervened at ministerial level and lobbied President Museveni on Tullow’s behalf in order to resolve their <em>dispute</em>.</span></div>
<div align="justify">
<span style="font-size: small;">In fact HMG could not wait to involve themselves in Tullow’s dispute despite their legal proceedings</span> <span style="font-size: small;">and Whitehall’s diplomatic army swooped to Tullow’s aid with the following weaponry:-</span></div>
<div align="justify">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: red;"><em><span style="color: black;"><strong>“there is a major UK commercial interest at stake here, which is not limited to Tullow. Their success has also been bringing other major UK firms, to the market”.</strong></span></em></span></span></div>
<div align="justify">
<strong><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><em><span style="font-size: small;">“Tullow Oil have hit serious problems which threaten their investment in Uganda. Recommendation that we intervene urgently at Ministerial level with President”</span></em></strong> </div>
<div align="justify">
<span style="font-size: small;">Of course the British investor’s issues in Tanzania cannot be described appropriately as a dispute. They are issues of abuse of law, denial of access to law, the abuse of human rights, criminality and the failure of state institutions to protect them as foreign investors. Further, the British couple have never issued any legal proceedings against anyone either inside or outside of Tanzania. </span></div>
<div align="justify">
<span style="font-size: small;">That said both of the above inaccuracies continue to be used and</span><span style="font-size: small;"> trumpeted as reasons for non-intervention in the Silverdale affair by HMG throughout the corridors of Whitehall power. Letters containing the same inaccurate statements (with text containing the same spelling mistakes) rebound from all written requests to the British government from those seeking to support the couple’s attempts to obtain justice. </span></div>
<div align="justify">
<span style="font-size: small;">There is no doubt that the legally inaccurate position articulated by the British government in the face of clear evidence of criminality and abuse of law in the Silverdale case has caused the couple great harm and supports a culture of corruption and impunity in Tanzania.</span></div>
<div align="justify">
<span style="font-size: small;">In the face of the British government’s continuous rhetorical commitment to human rights, good governance ad the protection of its overseas nationals, its refusal to come to the aid of the British couple in Tanzania is objectively indefensible and in the face of the overwhelming assistance it gave to Tullow Oil in Uganda, it is dishonest. </span></div>
<div align="justify">
<span style="font-size: small;">At a meeting at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 2013, Sarah Hermitage asked her government to support her in two respects. Firstly, to represent the facts of the Silverdale case in accordance with the law and secondly, to open up senior lines of negotiation with the Tanzanian government in respect of compensation for the theft of their investment in Tanzania to avoid the need to resort to international arbitration.</span></div>
<div align="justify">
<span style="font-size: small;">The British government refused the first request stating “we cannot interfere with investor disputes” and the second on the grounds that the British High Commissioner in Dar es Salaam Dianna Melrose, did not have the experience to enter into said negotiations on behalf of the couple. </span><span style="font-size: small;">In fact HMG placed so little importance on this issue that she was sent to Tanzania un-briefed on the case.</span></div>
<div align="justify">
<span style="font-size: small;">Such indifference is in vivid contrast to the assistance given by the British government in to Tullow Oil in their dispute in Uganda.</span><span style="font-size: small;">The CEO of Tullow Oil is Aidan Heavey, a man who has donated more than £50,000 to the Conservative Party. Neither of the British Investors is a Conservative Party donor.</span> </div>
<div align="justify">
<a href="http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/news/Politics/article1230960.ece" title="http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/news/Politics/article1230960.ece">(http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/news/Politics/article1230960.ece</a>) <div align="justify">
<span style="font-size: small;">Unlike the Tullow Oil case, the Whitehall corridors of power did not swoop to the battle lines to assist the British investors in Tanzania and five tortuous years have passed for them without assistance from their government. </span></div>
<div align="justify">
<span style="font-size: small;">Information received under the Freedom of Information Act shows that until Mark Simmonds became Minister of Africa in 2012, not one British minister had raised the Silverdale case with the Tanzanian government and that it is now raised simply to suggest it harms Tanzania’s reputation as a safe country for foreign investors. </span></div>
<div align="justify">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">The Tanzanian government continues to ignore the British government and the later, in turn, does nothing more. Instead, it</span> has sat back and watched the couple lose their life savings, dragged through a London High Court libel case and defamed and abused by senior Tanzanian officials and personalities. </span></div>
<div align="justify">
<span style="font-size: small;">Information received under the Freedom of Information Act on the overwhelming assistance the British government gave Tullow Oil in the resolution of their dispute in Uganda is contained below this article but the following gives a glimpse of how HMG gave overwhelming assistance to the company and directly lobbied President Museveni in order to resolve their “dispute” :-</span> <div align="justify">
<span style="font-size: small;">The British government’s stand in respect of the Tullow Oil’s dispute was as follows:</span> <span style="font-size: small;">1. Tax disputes could potentially undermine or at least delay Tullow's interests in Uganda</span> <div align="justify">
<span style="color: blue; font-size: small;">The criminality in the Silverdale issue destroyed British investment in Tanzania and undermined the British government’s policy and Kikwete's assertions that Tanzania is a safe destination for British FDI.</span> <span style="color: black; font-size: small;">2. Henry Bellingham. “It is worth drawing on the important role British business (e.g. Tullow Oil) is currently playing in developing Uganda’s oil and gas sector.</span> <div align="justify">
<span style="color: blue; font-size: small;">Bellingham dismissed the role the British investors through their company Silverdale TZ played in the reduction of poverty and promotion of sustainable development in Tanzania.</span> <span style="color: #333333; font-size: small;">3. HMG position on the Tullow Oil dispute “to assure Tullow that we want to help them to continue their success in Uganda”</span> <span style="color: blue; font-size: small;">HMG position on Silverdale Farm dispute “we cannot involve ourselves with commercial disputes”</span> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">4. Henry Bellingham met and personally lobbied Museveni on Tullow Oil’s behalf. “Very positive visit. Warm welcome too from British business, and useful work done in support of Tullow Oil's investment in Uganda”. Also met with Tullow Oil and appraised them of the efforts MG was making to resolve their “dispute”</span></span> <span style="color: blue; font-size: small;">Not one government minister has ever spoken to either British investor in the Silverdale case in the last five years and HMG refuses to even represent their case in accordance with the laws of Tanzania stating “we cannot involve ourselves in "disputes”.</span> <span style="color: black; font-size: small;">5. Henry Bellingham, “My meeting with President Museveni allowed me to raise a specific trade issue, again regarding Tullow Oil. Though better than in DRC, the situation is stuck due to the question of taxes paid by [name withheld], from whom Tullow have bought the rights to the blocks on Lake Albert.”</span> <span style="color: blue; font-size: small;">The British investors have never been told of any meeting that has taken place with any member off the British government and president Kikwete.</span> ____________________________________________________________ <strong><span style="color: red; font-size: small;">Information obtained under the Freedom of Information Act in the UK in respect of the British government’s intervention in a dispute between Tullow and Heritage Oil in Uganda.</span></strong> <span style="color: red; font-size: small;">Read:-</span> <span style="color: red; font-size: small;">Tax disputes could potentially undermine or at least delay Tullow's interests in Uganda. </span> <b><span style="color: red; font-size: small;"></span></b> <b><span style="color: red; font-size: small;"></span></b> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: red;"><b>From: </b>eGrams AD(EAGLS) </span></span> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: red;"><b>Sent: </b>02 July 2010 10:25 </span></span> <b><span style="color: red; font-size: small;">To: [names withheld] </span></b> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: red;"><b>Subject: </b>FW: UGANDA: OIL ISSUES </span></span> <span style="color: red; font-size: small;">------------------------------------------- </span> <b><span style="color: red; font-size: small;">An update on developments in Uganda’s nascent oil sector. </span></b> <b><span style="color: red; font-size: small;"></span></b> <b><span style="color: red; font-size: small;">On the commercial front progress has temporarily stalled because of a tax dispute between the government and [name withheld] over the sale of [name withheld] Ugandan assets to Tullow Oil. [information withheld] </span></b> <span style="color: red; font-size: small;">From KAMPALA </span> <span style="color: red; font-size: small;">Despatched 02/07/2010 08:17:00 GMT </span> <span style="color: red; font-size: small;">Detail </span> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: red;">1. <b>[information withheld] </b></span></span> <span style="color: red; font-size: small;">Business </span> <span style="color: red; font-size: small;">2. <b>[name withheld] </b>agreed in December 2009 to sell its stake in Uganda for <b>[information withheld] </b>to <b>[name withheld]</b>. In January 2010 Tullow (50% co-owner of <b>[name withheld]</b>’s two blocks) exercised pre-emption rights to buy <b>[name withheld]</b>’s stake on terms that matched the <b>[name withheld] </b>offer <b>[information withheld]</b>Tullow announced in February a proposed “farm-out” partnership with the <b>[name withheld] [name withheld]</b>, which would give all three partners an equal, one-third share in the blocks. </span> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: red;">3. <b>[information withheld] </b></span></span> <span style="color: red; font-size: small;">Impasse? </span> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: red;">4. The government claims that <b>[name withheld] </b>should pay around <b>[information withheld] </b>in capital gains tax on its deal with Tullow. <b>[name withheld] </b>argues that CGT is not applicable to this transaction, based on their interpretation of Uganda’s Income Tax Act and historical precedent (no capital gains tax was paid when Tullow acquired Hardman Oil’s interests in 2007, which were then much less valuable). <b>[information withheld] </b></span></span> <span style="color: red; font-size: small;">Regulation </span> <b><span style="color: red; font-size: small;"></span></b> <b><span style="color: red; font-size: small;">5. [information withheld] </span></b> <span style="color: red; font-size: small;">Shearman </span> <b><span style="color: red; font-size: small;">{[name withheld]} </span></b> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: red;"><b>[information withheld] </b>RELEVANT EXTRACTS FROM MR BELLINGHAM’S VISIT BRIEF, July 2010 </span></span> <b><span style="color: red; font-size: small;"></span></b> <b><span style="color: red; font-size: small;">Steering Brief </span></b> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: red;"><b>[</b>It is worth drawing on the important role British business (e.g. Tullow Oil) is currently playing in developing Uganda’s oil and gas sector, highlighting in particular the industry specific experience and expertise we have to offer across the spectrum (upstream, downstream and ancillary support services). </span></span> <b><span style="color: red; font-size: small;"></span></b> <b><span style="color: red; font-size: small;">[information withheld] </span></b> <b><span style="color: red; font-size: small;"></span></b> <b><span style="color: red; font-size: small;">Meeting with President Yoweri Museveni </span></b> <b><span style="color: red; font-size: small;"></span></b> <b><span style="color: red; font-size: small;">OUR OBJECTIVES </span></b> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: red;"> <b>[information withheld] </b></span></span> <b><span style="color: red; font-size: small;">[information withheld] </span></b> <b><span style="color: red; font-size: small;">POINTS TO MAKE </span></b> <b><span style="color: red; font-size: small;">[information withheld] </span></b> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: red;"> <b>[information withheld] </b></span></span> <span style="color: red; font-size: small;"> Britain has world class companies with expertise in the oil and gas sector, including supporting engineering and professional services. Tullow oil a good </span> <span style="color: red; font-size: small;">example [placeholder for specific ask following your meeting with Tullow that will take place earlier in the day] </span> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: red;"> <b>[information withheld] </b></span></span> <b><span style="color: red; font-size: small;">[information withheld] </span></b> <b><span style="color: red; font-size: small;"></span></b> <b><span style="color: red; font-size: small;">Meeting at Tullow Oil HQ, Kampala </span></b> <b><span style="color: red; font-size: small;"></span></b> <b><span style="color: red; font-size: small;">Our Objective </span></b> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: red;"> <b>To assure Tullow that we want to help them to continue their success in Uganda. </b></span></span> <b><span style="color: red; font-size: small;"></span></b> <b><span style="color: red; font-size: small;">Points To Make </span></b> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: red;"> We're delighted with Tullow's impressive success in Uganda. <b>[information withheld] </b></span></span> <b><span style="color: red; font-size: small;">Oil </span></b> <b><span style="color: red; font-size: small;"></span></b> <b><span style="color: red; font-size: small;">Oil Companies </span></b> <span style="color: red; font-size: small;">1. Uganda’s oil is located in the Albertine Rift Valley (North East DRC/West Uganda/South Sudan border areas). <b>[name withheld] </b>agreed in December 2009 to sell its stake in Uganda for <b>[information withheld] </b>to <b>[[name withheld]] </b>of Italy, but Tullow (50% co-owner of <b>[[name withheld]]</b>’s two blocks) exercised pre-emption rights in January to buy out <b>[[name withheld]]</b>’s stake on terms that matched the <b>[name withheld] </b>offer. Soon after that they announced a “farm-out” partnership with the <b>[name withheld] </b>and <b>[name withheld]</b>, which gives all three partners an equal, one-third share in the blocks. </span> <b><span style="color: red; font-size: small;">Oil Capacity </span></b> <span style="color: red; font-size: small;">Tullow Oil has enjoyed a near 100% success rate (only 1 out of 29 wells drilled were abandoned during the period 2006-10). ______________________________________________ </span> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: red;"><b>From: </b>eGram Gateway </span></span> <b><span style="color: red; font-size: small;"></span></b> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: red;"><b>Sent: </b>12 August 2010 18:53 </span></span> <b><span style="color: red; font-size: small;"></span></b> <b><span style="color: red; font-size: small;">To: [name withheld] </span></b> <b><span style="color: red; font-size: small;"></span></b> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: red;"><b>Subject: </b>UGANDA: TULLOW OIL </span></span> <b><span style="color: red; font-size: small;"></span></b> <b><span style="color: red; font-size: small;">UK listed Tullow Oil buys [name withheld]’s Ugandan assets [information withheld] </span></b> <span style="color: red; font-size: small;">From KAMPALA </span> <span style="color: red; font-size: small;">Despatched 12/08/2010 15:42:00 GMT </span> <span style="color: red; font-size: small;">Detail </span> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: red;">1. We reported last month on Uganda’s tax dispute with <b>[name withheld] </b>and on Tullow Oil’s proposed partnership deal with <b>[name withheld] </b>and <b>[name withheld]</b>. At his meeting with Museveni on 23 July, <b>Mr Bellingham made clear the UK’s strong support for Tullow’s engagement in Uganda</b>. <b>[information withheld] </b></span></span> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: red;">2. On 6 July, Onek (Energy Minister) wrote to Tullow formally approving their acquisition of <b>[name withheld]</b>’s Ugandan assets. <b>[information withheld] </b></span></span> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: red;">3. <b>[information withheld] </b></span></span> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: red;">4. <b>[information withheld] </b></span></span> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: red;">5. <b>[information withheld] </b></span></span> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: red;">6. <b>[information withheld] </b></span></span> <span style="color: red; font-size: small;">Comment </span> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: red;">7. <b>[information withheld] </b></span></span> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: red;">8. A letter from Mr Bellingham following up his recent visit to Uganda would be timely. The letter could cover the Tullow angle, the forthcoming UKTI oil and gas mission to Uganda and other key bilateral issues <b>[information withheld] </b></span></span> <b><span style="color: red; font-size: small;">{[name withheld]} </span></b> <span style="color: red; font-size: small;">____________________________________________ </span> <b><span style="color: red; font-size: small;">From: [name withheld] </span></b> <b><span style="color: red; font-size: small;"></span></b> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: red;"><b>Sent: </b>13 August 2010 09:53 </span></span> <b><span style="color: red; font-size: small;"></span></b> <b><span style="color: red; font-size: small;">To: [names withheld] </span></b> <b><span style="color: red; font-size: small;"></span></b> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: red;"><b>Cc: </b>Martin Shearman (Restricted); <b>[names withheld] </b></span></span> <b><span style="color: red; font-size: small;"></span></b> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: red;"><b>Subject: </b>RE: UGANDA: VISIT OF MINISTER FOR AFRICA - Urgent - Tullow/<b>[name withheld] </b>progress? </span></span> <b><span style="color: red; font-size: small;"></span></b> <b><span style="color: red; font-size: small;">[name withheld] </span></b> <span style="color: red; font-size: small;">The attached e-gram (which hasn't yet been distributed throughout the office) has the latest developments on Tullow and the <b>[name withheld] </b>tax situation. <b>[information withheld] </b>A follow-up letter from the Minister could go some way towards achieving that. When will the next opportunity to get a letter sent out from the Minster be? </span> <span style="color: red; font-size: small;">Regards </span> <b><span style="color: red; font-size: small;">[name withheld] </span></b> <span style="color: red; font-size: small;">____________________________________________ </span> <b><span style="color: red; font-size: small;">From: [name withheld] </span></b> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: red;"><b>Sent: </b>12 August 2010 17:25 </span></span> <b><span style="color: red; font-size: small;">To: [names withheld] </span></b> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: red;"><b>Cc: </b>Martin Shearman, <b>[name withheld] </b></span></span> <b><span style="color: red; font-size: small;"></span></b> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: red;"><b>Subject: </b>RE: UGANDA: VISIT OF MINISTER FOR AFRICA - Urgent - Tullow/<b>[name withheld] </b>progress? </span></span> <b><span style="color: red; font-size: small;"></span></b> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: red;"><b>Importance: </b>High </span></span> <span style="color: red; font-size: small;">Thanks - could you provide an update on the Tullow situation by tomorrow 3pm please? </span> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: red;"><b>[information withheld] </b>If nothing has changed since the Minister's visit, please let us know asap as he wanted to tell the FS that progress was being made after the Museveni meeting and he clearly can't if this is not true! </span></span> <span style="color: red; font-size: small;">Thanks. </span> <b><span style="color: red; font-size: small;">[name withheld] </span></b> <span style="color: red; font-size: small;">____________________________________________ </span> <b><span style="color: red; font-size: small;"></span></b> <b><span style="color: red; font-size: small;"></span></b> <b><span style="color: red; font-size: small;">From: [name withheld] </span></b> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: red;"><b>Sent: </b>12 August 2010 17:13 </span></span> <b><span style="color: red; font-size: small;">To: [name withheld] </span></b> <b><span style="color: red; font-size: small;">Cc: [name withheld] </span></b> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: red;"><b>Subject: </b>FW: UGANDA: VISIT OF MINISTER FOR AFRICA, 21-25 JULY </span></span> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: red;"><b>Importance: </b>High </span></span> <b><span style="color: red; font-size: small;"></span></b> <b><span style="color: red; font-size: small;">[name withheld] </span></b> <span style="color: red; font-size: small;">We'd like the minister to send a follow-up letter to Sam Kutesa (Uganda's FM). Will there be any opportunity to get a letter signed off before August 27th? <b>[information withheld] </b>The 27th wouldn't necessarily be too late, but from our perspective the sooner that action is taken on this tax dispute the better. </span> <span style="color: red; font-size: small;">Please let me know what you think. </span> <span style="color: red; font-size: small;">Regards </span> <b><span style="color: red; font-size: small;">[name withheld] </span></b> <span style="color: red; font-size: small;">______________________________________________ </span> <b><span style="color: red; font-size: small;"></span></b> <b><span style="color: red; font-size: small;">From: [name withheld] </span></b> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: red;"><b>Sent: </b>03 August 2010 08:32 </span></span> <b><span style="color: red; font-size: small;">To: [name withheld] </span></b> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: red;"><b>Cc: </b>Martin Shearman (Restricted); <b>[names withheld] </b></span></span> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: red;"><b>Subject: </b>RE: UGANDA: VISIT OF MINISTER FOR AFRICA, 21-25 JULY </span></span> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: red;"><b>Importance: </b>High </span></span> <b><span style="color: red; font-size: small;">[name withheld] </span></b> <span style="color: red; font-size: small;">We would recommend a follow up letter from the Minister to Kutesa, with the following elements: </span> <b><span style="color: red; font-size: small;">[information withheld] </span></b> <b><span style="color: red; font-size: small;">Trade </span></b> <b><span style="color: red; font-size: small;">[name withheld] </span></b> <b><span style="color: red; font-size: small;">Comment: </span></b> <b><span style="color: red; font-size: small;">[information withheld] </span></b> <span style="color: red; font-size: small;">- <b>On Trade, a separate letter from the Minister to the CEO of Tullow (UK) would certainly be appreciated</b>. <b>[information withheld] </b>_____________________________________________ </span> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: red;"><b>{[name withheld]}Cc: </b>Martin Shearman (Restricted); <b>{[name withheld]} Subject: </b>RE: UGANDA: VISIT OF MINISTER FOR AFRICA, 21-25 JULY:Id=5028598 </span></span> <b><span style="color: red; font-size: small;">{[name withheld]} </span></b> <b><span style="color: red; font-size: small;">[information withheld] </span></b> <b><span style="color: red; font-size: small;">{[name withheld]} </span></b> <span style="color: red; font-size: small;">______________________________________________ </span> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: red;"><b>From: </b>eGrams AD(EAGLS) </span></span> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: red;"><b>Sent: </b>27 July 2010 10:22 </span></span> <b><span style="color: red; font-size: small;">To: [names withheld] </span></b> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: red;"><b>Subject: </b>FW: UGANDA: VISIT OF MINISTER FOR AFRICA, 21-25 JULY </span></span> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: red;"><b>Importance: </b>Low </span></span> <span style="color: red; font-size: small;">------------------------------------------- </span> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: red;"><b>From: </b>eGram Gateway </span></span> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: red;"><b>Sent: </b>Tuesday, July 27, 2010 10:21:50 AM </span></span> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: red;"><b>To: </b>eGrams eD AD(EAGLS) </span></span> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: red;"><b>Subject: </b>UGANDA: VISIT OF MINISTER FOR AFRICA, 21-25 JULY </span></span> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: red;"><b>Importance: </b>Low </span></span> <b><span style="color: red; font-size: small;"></span></b> <b><span style="color: red; font-size: small;">Very positive visit. Warm welcome too from British business, and useful work done in support of Tullow Oil's investment in Uganda. [information withheld] </span></b> <span style="color: red; font-size: small;">From KAMPALA </span> <span style="color: red; font-size: small;">Despatched 27/07/2010 09:20:00 GMT </span> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: red;">1. <b>[information withheld] </b></span></span> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: red;">2. <b>[information withheld] </b></span></span> <b><span style="color: red; font-size: small;">3. [information withheld] </span></b> <b><span style="color: red; font-size: small;"></span></b> <b><span style="color: red; font-size: small;">TRADE </span></b> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: red;">4. <b>[information withheld] </b><b>Mr Bellingham said that we were strongly supportive of Tullow Oil's involvement in Uganda and hoped that Museveni would take the</b> <b>decisions needed to allow them to get on with their deal with [information withheld] and bring in further investment,</b> <b>[information withheld] </b></span></span> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: red;"><b>5. Tullow gave Mr Bellingham a full brief on their business</b>, and its potential to transform the Ugandan economy as well as generate significant return to the UK. An interesting roundtable with Tullow and other British business representatives threw up a number of ideas for promoting British business, which we will pursue. </span></span> <b><span style="color: red; font-size: small;">[information withheld] </span></b> <span style="color: red; font-size: small;">SHEARMAN </span> <span style="color: red; font-size: small;">____________________________________________________</span> <span style="color: red; font-size: small;">From: Henry Bellingham </span> <span style="color: red; font-size: small;">10 August 2010 </span> <span style="color: red; font-size: small;">Dear Foreign Secretary </span> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: red;">1. <b>[information withheld</b><b>] </b><b>DRC would benefit from a deal with Tullow as they intend to build a pipeline to the east coast for oil from the Uganda side of Lake Albert, due to begin flowing in around 18 months time[information withheld] </b></span></span> <b><span style="color: red; font-size: small;">[information withheld] </span></b> <b><span style="color: red; font-size: small;">Uganda </span></b> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: red;">2. <b>My meeting with President Museveni allowed me to raise a specific trade issue, again regarding Tullow Oil. </b><b>Though better than in DRC, the situation is stuck due to the question of taxes paid by [name withheld], from whom Tullow have bought the rights to the blocks on Lake Albert. [information withheld] Consequently, Tullow have concluded the deal with [name withheld], allowing both companies’ share prices to rise by approximately 50p and £1, respectively. </b></span></span> <b><span style="color: red; font-size: small;">[information withheld] </span></b> <span style="color: red; font-size: small;">Henry Bellingham </span> <span style="color: red; font-size: small;">______________________________________________________________________ </span> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: red;"><b>From: </b>eGram Gateway </span></span> <b><span style="color: red; font-size: small;"></span></b> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: red;"><b>Sent: </b>Tuesday, August 24, 2010 11:19:44 AM </span></span> <b><span style="color: red; font-size: small;"></span></b> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: red;"><b>To: </b>eGrams eD AD(EAGLS) </span></span> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: red;"><b>Subject: </b>UGANDA: TRADE: TULLOW OIL </span></span> <b><span style="color: red; font-size: small;"></span></b> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: red;"><b>Tullow Oil have hit serious problems [information withheld] which threaten their [information withheld] investment in Uganda. [information withheld] </b><b>Recommendation that we intervene urgently at Ministerial level with President </b></span></span> <b><span style="color: red; font-size: small;">Museveni. </span></b> <b><span style="color: red; font-size: small;"></span></b> <b><span style="color: red; font-size: small;"></span></b> <span style="color: red; font-size: small;">From KAMPALA </span> <span style="color: red; font-size: small;">Despatched 24/08/2010 10:19:00 GMT </span> <span style="color: red; font-size: small;">1. I have just seen Aidan Heavey, CEO and founder of Tullow Oil. He came from a meeting last night with President Museveni, the aim of which was to settle the next stage of Tullow's investment in Uganda with <b>[name withheld] </b>and <b>[name withheld] </b>following Tullow's <b>[information withheld] </b>acquisition of <b>[name withheld]</b>’s Ugandan assets on 26 July </span> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: red;">2. <b>[information withheld] </b></span></span> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: red;">3. <b>[information withheld] </b>The <b>[information withheld] </b>deal and Tullow's spend on exploration in Uganda total around <b>[information withheld] </b></span></span> <span style="color: red; font-size: small;">Comment </span> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: red;">4. <b>[information withheld] </b></span></span> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: red;">5. Their success has also been bringing other major UK firms, such as <b>[name withheld] </b>and the <b>[name withheld]</b>, to the market. <b>[information withheld] </b></span></span> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: red;">6 <b>[information withheld] </b></span></span> <span style="color: red; font-size: small;">SHEARMAN </span> <span style="color: red; font-size: small;">[Personal information] </span> <table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> <tbody>
<tr> <td valign="top" width="176"><span style="color: red; font-size: small;">From: <b>{[name withheld]} </b>Date: 03/09/2010 </span></td></tr>
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ragamuffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05482861108057630824noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7863439190346561185.post-27341459747323208712014-07-17T00:04:00.001-07:002014-07-17T00:11:50.012-07:00Tanzania: Why did Lowassa and Magafuli not protect British investors?<p> </p> <p align="justify"><font size="3">The following, is part of a communication from a former senior Tanzanian minister to a senior member of the British government concerning the registration of the lease to Silverdale & Mbono Farms.</font></p> <p align="justify"> </p> <h1><font color="#333333" size="3"><font style="font-weight: normal">Dear Stewart,</font></font></h1> <h1><font color="#333333" size="3"><font style="font-weight: normal">After some chasing around, I managed to speak to Ngasongwa from Zanzibar yesterday, before he departed to Singapore and New York.</font></font></h1> <h1><font color="#333333" size="3"><font style="font-weight: normal">He said straight away that he hadn't been able to make as much progress as he'd have liked: He had spoken to TIC, who had written to him confirming that they could issue the certificate of foreign investment as soon as the lease was registered. </font></font></h1> <h1><font color="#333333" size="3"><font style="font-weight: normal">It was clear to Ngasongwa that the lease should be registered. Even the papers Mengi had given him, despite Mengi's attempt "to be clever", showed no reason why the lease should not be registered.</font></font></h1> <h1><font color="#333333" size="3"><font style="font-weight: normal">But Ngasongwa had been unable to get hold of Magafuli, the Minister of Lands, who was travelling outside Dar es Salaam. </font></font></h1><font color="#333333" size="3"></font> <h1><font color="#333333" size="3"><font style="font-weight: normal">He had spoken to the Deputy Minister, but she had said she couldn't do anything in the Minister's absence.</font></font></h1> <h1><font color="#333333" size="3"><font style="font-weight: normal">So Ngasongwa had written to Magafuli encouraging him to impress on the Commissioner of Lands the need to proceed with registration. He had copied this letter to Lowassa and enclosed with it a copy of the TIC letter and my letter to him of 6 September (to which is also attached your letter to the Regional Commissioner).</font></font></h1> <h1><font color="#333333" size="3"><font style="font-weight: normal">Ngasongwa promised me a blind copy of his letter to Magafuli. I hope that will be waiting for me when I get back into the office tomorrow.</font></font></h1> <h1><font color="#333333" size="3"><font style="font-weight: normal">Ngasongwa said he would resume the chase on his return to Dar es Salaam on (probably) 29 September.</font></font></h1> <h1><font color="#333333" size="3"><font style="font-weight: normal">This is still frustratingly slow, and I'll be interested to see what Ngasongwa's letter to Magafuli actually says. But I do have the impression that Ngasongwa really does feel he needs to sort this matter out, at last. And it's good that he copied his letter to Lowassa. </font></font></h1><font color="#333333" size="3"></font> <h1><font color="#333333" size="3"><font style="font-weight: normal">Best wishes</font></font></h1> <h1><font color="#333333" size="3"><font style="font-weight: normal">-------------</font></font></h1> <p>September 2009.</p> ragamuffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05482861108057630824noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7863439190346561185.post-80307229970340517942014-06-28T02:39:00.003-07:002014-06-28T04:02:38.925-07:00Reginald Mengi: Two faces that tell a different story.<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://specials-images.forbesimg.com/imageserve/59a7a29d6d52efb75ddb3f133c07700b/744x1128.jpg?fit=scale&background=000000" imageanchor="1"><img alt="Reginald Mengi" border="0" class="main_info_img" src="http://specials-images.forbesimg.com/imageserve/59a7a29d6d52efb75ddb3f133c07700b/744x1128.jpg?fit=scale&background=000000" height="400" width="263" /> </a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Reginald Mengi</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Outside the High Court in London in 2012 where he was found complicit in corruption that destroyed private sector investment in Tanzania and his “selfless dedication
to humanity and a determination to labour for the public welfare” questioned. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://specials-images.forbesimg.com/imageserve/59a7a29d6d52efb75ddb3f133c07700b/744x1128.jpg?fit=scale&background=000000"><img alt="Reginald Mengi" border="0" class="main_info_img" src="http://specials-images.forbesimg.com/imageserve/59a7a29d6d52efb75ddb3f133c07700b/744x1128.jpg?fit=scale&background=000000" height="320" width="209" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Reginald Mengi</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Appears in this months Forbes magazine.<br />
http://www.forbes.com/profile/reginald-mengi/</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Spot the difference in the above photographs? </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Ironically, you cannot, they are both the same. So what's the point? </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Well the point is, the difference in what you will read about Reginald Mengi depending on where you view the photograph on the Internet. Forbes, or the judgement in the London High Court case Mengi v Hermitage where Reginald Mengi was found to be complicit in corruption, to have misled the London High Court and to have used his media as a tool of journalistic terrorism against lawful British investors in Tanzania which led to the destruction and theft of the lease to their farm Silverdale.</span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Reginald Mengi features this months Forbes magazine which writes up Reginald Mengi as a great and rich African entrpreneur. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Their website includes the following amongst copious other compliments:- </span><br />
<br />
<h1 itemprop="headline">
Tanzanian Millionaire Receives Lions Philanthropy Award</h1>
<h1 itemprop="headline">
</h1>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Mengi was granted the International Order of the Lion- the highest award the <a href="http://www.lionsclubs.org/%E2%80%8E">Lions Club</a> bestows on philanthropists on Tuesday the 4<sup>th</sup>
of March 2014 during a gala banquet in Dar es Salaam which was well
attended by prominent Tanzanian businessmen, politicians and diplomats.
Mengi ... was honoured for his “selfless dedication
to humanity and a determination to labour for the public welfare”.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">About his media empire Forbes state "</span><span style="font-size: large;">Reginald Mengi, a newcomer to Forbes' list of Africa's Richest, chairs
privately held IPP Group, a Tanzanian conglomerate that owns 11 national
newspapers (including Tanzania's Financial Times, ThisDay and The
Guardian), three of East Africa's most popular television stations
(EATV, Capital and ITV), and about ten radio stations" </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">What Forbes fail to point out to it's readers is that Reginald Mengi was found by the London High Court in December 2012 to have been complicit in a particularly nasty piece of corruption, to have misled the court, probably have been guilty of criminal libel in Tanzania should the authorities have chose to prosecute him and to have used his media as a means of journalist terrorism to destroy lawful British investment in Tanzania. Importantly, the High Court found that Mengi's media operated a bias and favourable policy in favour of President Kikwete.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">The High Court ruling made damning rulings on Mengi's business conduct and the use and abuse of his media power.</span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Forbes states that their <span class="st">magazine is a leading source of reliable business news and financial information. Indeed they make the following claim.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<h2 class="editable editable-hed">
<a class="exit_trigger_set" href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/janetnovack/2014/06/18/the-forbes-2014-investment-guide-the-best-advice-of-all-time/">The Forbes 2014 Investment Guide: The Best Advice Of All Time
</a></h2>
<span class="st" style="font-size: large;">Reginald Mengi is the Chairman of the Tanzanian Private Sector Foundation and takes a very vocal anti corruption stand using his newspapers to do so. He is a strong supporter of attracting private sector investment in Tanzania. What is extraordinary, is that Forbes, felt it appropriate not to mention anything at all about Mengi's failed High Court action where he was found guilty of being complicit in corruption that destroyed private secotor investment which left his reputation in tatters and had obvious impact on the way in which prospective investors in Tanzania, would view the business enviromnent as portrayed by Tanzania's Private Sector Foundation (TPSF) of which Reginald Mengi is chairman.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="st" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">
<span class="st">This is an extraordinary ommission by Forbes. </span>Steve Forbes, editor in chief of the magazine states “With all thy getting, get understanding." Well r</span><span class="st" style="font-size: large;">eaders of Forbes may get a fuller and better understanding of Reginald Mengi by reading the following press release by UK lawyers Carter Ruck after his failed libel case brought against British Lawyer Sarah Hermitage in London (extracts printed below).</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="st" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span class="st" style="font-size: large;">http://www.carter-ruck.com/Documents/Hermitage_Press_Release-301112.pdf</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span class="st" style="font-size: large;">The libel case, thought to have cost Reginald Mengi in excess of $5 mil can be read at the following link :-</span></div>
<span class="st" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span class="st" style="font-size: large;">http://www.5rb.com/case/mengi-v-hermitage-no-2/</span><br />
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Press Release </div>
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Date: 30 November 2012</div>
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Sarah Hermitage Libel Defence Upheld </div>
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Silverdale Farm Blog Justified </div>
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At the High Court in London today, Mr Justice Bean delivered<br />
Judgement in favour of Sarah Hermitage, who had been sued for<br />
libel by the wealthy Tanzanian businessman, Reginald Mengi,<br />
the Executive Chairman of IPP Ltd,a company which holds major<br />
newspaper and broadcasting interests in Tanzania.</div>
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Reginald Mengi sued in respect of five postings on Sarah Hermitage’s<br />
Silverdale Farm blog and two emails she had sent, which Mr Mengi<br />
claimed to be false and defamatoryof him.</div>
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During the trial, the Court heard unchallenged evidence from Sarah Hermitage </div>
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and her husband, Stewart Middleton, as to how they were by threats, </div>
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intimidation and corruption driven from Tanzania and forced to abandon the </div>
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investment they had made in their farm, Silverdale,of which Reginald Mengi’s </div>
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younger brother, Benjamin, then took possession.</div>
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The Court was told that a major factor in the ordeal they suffered was the<br />
hostile and defamatory coverage their case received from the IPP-owned<br />
English language Guardian and the Swahili Nipashe newspapers.<br />
<br />
Reginald Mengi, in the course of his evidence, repeatedly stated that<br />
he“was not responsible, not accountable and not answerable”for the<br />
editorial content of IPP publications.</div>
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In giving Judgement, Mr Justice Bean ruled:</div>
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“I find that the campaign in the Guardian and Nipashe facilitated<br />
Benjamin’scorruption of local officials and intimidation of the Middletons<br />
and thus helpedBenjamin to destroy their investments and grab their<br />
properties; and that Mr[Reginald] Mengi, since he either encouraged<br />
or knowingly permitted thecampaign, was in that sense complicit in<br />
Benjamin’s corruption and intimidation. The allegation is thus substantially<br />
true, and justified at commonlaw"<br />
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After handing down judgment Mr Justice Bean ordered that Reginald Mengi </div>
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should pay the defence costs at the higher “indemnity” rate. In reaching this </div>
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decision, the factors cited by the Judge included that Counsel for Sarah<br />
Hermitage had“rightly described the litigation as “oppressive”,that<br />
“enormous costs had been thrown at the case from the beginning,<br />
indeed before the issue of proceedings”and that the evidence of the<br />
Claimant and his witnesses had in a number of respects been“misleading<br />
and untrue.”</div>
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ragamuffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05482861108057630824noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7863439190346561185.post-26829030396141775672014-05-06T00:19:00.001-07:002014-05-06T00:21:23.350-07:00Tanzania: Corruption and Human Rights. Institute of Advanced Legal Studies 28th May 2014<p> </p> <p><a href="https://sites.google.com/a/sihrg.org/solicitors-international-human-rights-group/tanzania/Tanzania.JPG?attredirects=0"><img border="0" src="https://sites.google.com/a/sihrg.org/solicitors-international-human-rights-group/_/rsrc/1398769737230/tanzania/Tanzania.JPG" width="525" height="838"></a></p> ragamuffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05482861108057630824noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7863439190346561185.post-70900127145530129082014-05-06T00:12:00.001-07:002014-05-06T00:12:18.618-07:00British law stumbling block to justice says President Kikwete of Tanzania.<p> </p> <p><font color="#0000ff" size="7"><strong>Daily News</strong></font></p> <h1><font size="2">Published on Tuesday, 06 May 2014 04:37 </font></h1> <h1><font size="2">Written by MARC NKWAME in Arusha</font></h1> <p><font size="3">FOREIGN laws that many African countries, including Tanzania, had inherited from their former colonial masters, have remained a major stumbling block in the provision of equal justice to all, President Jakaya Kikwete stated.</font></p> <p><img style="float: none; margin-left: auto; display: block; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="President Jakaya Kikwete." src="http://www.m.dailynews.co.tz/images/KIKWETE2020.jpg"></p> <h1 align="center"><font size="2"><font style="font-weight: normal">President Kikwete of Tanzania</font></font></h1> <h1 align="center"><font size="2"><font style="font-weight: normal">Colonial masters left behind vague and intangible laws</font></font></h1> <p><font size="3">Many of the alien laws are also defined in foreign language and always incomprehensible to ordinary citizens who also perceive them as too expensive and just meant for the affluent few,” said President Kikwete while officially opening the 12th Biennial Conference of International Association of Women Judges taking place at the Arusha International Conference Centre (AICC).<br></font><font size="3"></font></p> <p><font size="3">He, however, took solace at the legal and judiciary reform process currently taking place. “I am glad to announce that Tanzania is currently embarking on legal and judiciary reforms meant to transform our courts and magistrates to be more accessible and people friendly to ordinary residents,” the president told his audience. </font></p> <p><font size="3">Running under the theme, “Justice to all” the International Women Judges’ meeting here, targets to address issues of vulnerable groups, such as women, children, poor people and those with physical disabilities, accessing legal services as well as getting justice freely and timely. More than 600 women judges from all over the world have gathered in Arusha for the five-day event organised by the Tanzania Women Judges Association and the Judiciary</font></p> <p><font size="3">“For any country’s legal system to work effectively, the guiding regulations practiced within must bear customary home-grown roots, something which seems to be lacking in most previously colonized states that instead inherited or copied from their previous alien rulers,’’ the president noted.</font></p> <p><font size="3">The Head of State also pointed out that taking the advantage of poor people’s legal ignorance; many wealthy people have also been misusing their financial position in twisting the laws to their favour -- at the expense of others.</font></p> <p><font size="3">President Kikwete also pointed out that in addition to the vague and intangible laws that foreign masters left behind, the country was also being challenged by limited and few legal infrastructure and manpower to effectively deliver justice to all.</font></p> <p><font size="3">Our legal practitioners must also have excellent knowledge on the laws, regulations and the constraints involved,” he stated.</font></p> ragamuffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05482861108057630824noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7863439190346561185.post-86457212797852794932014-04-21T08:29:00.001-07:002014-04-21T08:35:21.476-07:00British couple to sue Tanzania over farm deal that 'ended in death threats'<p> </p> <h3>British couple to sue Tanzania over farm deal that 'ended in death threats'</h3> <p>Fight at the international arbitration court comes as UK promotes private investment in east African country <p><img title="Tanzania's president Jakaya Kikwete " alt="Tanzania's president Jakaya Kikwete " src="http://i.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2014/4/20/1398016180379/Tanzanias-president-Jakay-012.jpg?width=620&height=-&quality=95" width="578" height="366">Tanzania's president Jakaya Kikwete met David Cameron at Downing Street earlier this month. Photograph: Reuters <h1> </h1> <h1><font size="4">Mark Tran</font></h1> <h1><font size="1">Sunday 20 April 2014 </font></h1> <p><font size="3"><font face="Arial">A British couple aim to take Tanzania to an international arbitration court after they were forced to flee following what they say was a campaign of harassment and intimidation, including death threats.</font></font></p> <p><font size="3">If it goes to court, the case could prove embarrassing for the UK and Tanzania at a time when the British government is </font><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-promotes-business-links-in-east-africa-to-end-poverty"><font size="3">promoting private investment</font></a><font size="3"> in the east African country.</font></p> <p><font size="3">Sarah Hermitage and Stewart Middleton bought the lease to Silverdale farm in the Kilimanjaro area from Benjamin Mengi, a businessman, in 2004. Hermitage, a solicitor, and Middleton, an agronomist with extensive experience in Africa, planned to make the 216 hectares (533 acres) of prime farmland their home and business. Silverdale employed about 150 people to grow green beans, baby corn, seed maize and coffee beans.</font> <p><font size="3">The following year, Mengi disputed the acquisition of the lease of £67,474, paid in two instalments, claiming that the assignment of the lease agreement was "null and void". The couple say Mengi began threatening them, damaging their property and intimidating their staff.</font> <p><font size="3">"It was state harassment, not a dispute," said Hermitage. "There is no doubt in my mind they would have killed us, and I want my government to hold them to account … He had no intention of letting us have that farm."</font> <p><font size="3">Asked why the couple were suing Tanzania rather than Mengi himself, she said: "We're not bringing a lawsuit against Mengi because the Tanzanian courts have failed to protect us or afford us justice. This is part of our claim against Tanzania. The Tanzanian courts, police and other authorities have not only failed to protect us and our employees, but actively assisted the harassment campaign to drive us from our farm and the country. Our claims are not about a private dispute with Mengi but about Tanzania's failure to respect its obligations to protect foreign investors, including from corruption, threats and violence."</font> <p><font size="3">As Hermitage and Middleton prepare to take their multimillion-dollar case to the international centre for settlement of investment disputes at the World Bank, the UK is pressing ahead with commercial ties with Tanzania. Jakaya Kikwete, Tanzanian president, met </font><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/david-cameron-meeting-with-president-kikwete-of-tanzania"><font size="3">David Cameron at Downing Street</font></a><font size="3"> in early April as part of a trip to talk up his country as a destination for British companies.</font> <p><font size="3">This followed a visit in November to Tanzania by Justine Greening, the international development secretary, when she and Mizengo Pinda, the Tanzanian prime minister, announced a "high-level prosperity partnership" to encourage closer bilateral commercial ties.</font> <p><font size="3">Sir Roger Gale, Conservative MP for North Thanet in Kent, whose constituents include Hermitage and Middleton, has lobbied successive Foreign Office ministers for Africa over the years and is incensed that the British government is encouraging British companies to invest in Tanzania despite what happened at Silverdale.</font> <p><font size="3">"We should not be promoting foreign investment there. My constituents have had their entire livelihood taken from them with complete impunity," said Gale. "The Tanzanian government has been reluctant to act – it won't or can't do anything. Africa needs good farmers. Stewart was one of those. He has a lot to offer. He was providing livelihoods – all that has gone and been vandalised."</font> <p><font size="3">In response to Gale's queries, in 2009, the Tanzanian high commissioner in London claimed that the "police investigations did not find any evidence of threat on their [Hermitage and Middleton's] lives" and "police and anti-corruption bureau investigated the allegations but none was proved true".</font> <p><font size="3">Various British high commissioners have sought to press the couple's case, but Gale believes the Foreign Office should have done more.</font> <p><font size="3">When Gale brought up the case in a parliamentary question in February, Mark Simmonds, the minister for Africa, responded: "The British government has raised the case of Silverdale farm at the highest levels on a number of occasions. I raised the issue with the Tanzanian agricultural minister on 24 October last year and have done so with the Tanzanian foreign minister on numerous occasions. We will continue to discuss the investment climate in our conversations with the Tanzanian government."</font> <p><font size="3">Hermitage and Middleton have also found a </font><a href="http://africanarguments.org/2013/02/14/things-fall-apart-in-tanzania-on-media-manipulation-and-hypocrisy-%E2%80%93-by-edward-clay/"><font size="3">stalwart supporter in Edward Clay</font></a><font size="3">, the former high commissioner to Kenya, who famously spoke of </font><a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/3893625.stm"><font size="3">gluttonous Kenyan officials</font></a><font size="3"> "vomiting over our [donors'] shoes".</font> <p><font size="3">Clay wrote several letters to Greening's predecessor, Andrew Mitchell, on the couple's behalf, and is critical of the international development committee (IDC) for not flagging up Silverdale.</font> <p><font size="3">"IDC's job is scrutiny of the aid budget in the interests of the British taxpayer, not to promote aid willy-nilly," said Clay. "In assessing aid's utility in Tanzania, IDC members' access and authority in Tanzania could be used to promote redress of abuses of British investors."</font> <p><font size="3">In another twist to the saga, Benjamin Mengi's brother, Reginald, a media magnate, brought a </font><a href="http://africanarguments.org/2012/12/13/tanzanian-media-magnate-defeated-in-landmark-libel-case-against-british-citizen-%E2%80%93-by-magnus-taylor/"><font size="3">libel case against Hermitage</font></a><font size="3"> in the UK in 2012 in connection with Silverdale. Reginald sued Hermitage in the high court after she had written and made public five blog posts and two emails concerning an alleged defamatory campaign waged against her and her husband during their legal dispute with Benjamin Mengi. Reginald Mengi claimed that he "was not responsible, not accountable and not answerable" for the editorial content of newspapers controlled by his company, IPP Media.</font> <p><font size="3">In a </font><a href="http://www.5rb.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Mengi-v-Hermitage-2012.pdf"><font size="3">ruling in Hermitage's favour</font></a><font size="3"> , Mr Justice Bean said: "I find that the campaign in the Guardian and Nipashe [newspapers owned by IPP Media] facilitated Benjamin's corruption of local officials and intimidation of the Middletons and thus helped Benjamin to destroy their investments and grab their properties; and that Mr [Reginald] Mengi, since he either encouraged or knowingly permitted the campaign, was in that sense complicit in Benjamin's corruption and intimidation. The allegation is thus substantially true, and justified at common law."</font> <p><font size="3">Mengi did not respond to requests for comment from the Guardian.</font> ragamuffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05482861108057630824noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7863439190346561185.post-33354789116071646172014-04-19T10:37:00.001-07:002014-04-19T10:53:03.108-07:00BG Group Chairman Andrew Gould: Silverdale Farm issue “nothing to do with us”.<p><font color="#ff0000" size="3">I wonder what the world would look like now if the British government and Western allies had said to Nazi invaded Europe, “We are sorry, we cannot assist you with this matter as it is a dispute that does not concern us” ?</font> </p> <p align="justify"><font size="3">BG Group invested in Tanzania in 2010 and has a 60% interest in offshore oil Blocks and is one of the most prominent British investors in the country.</font></p> <p align="justify"><font size="3">Andrew Gould, Chairman of the company states:-</font></p> <p align="justify"><font color="#0000ff" size="2"><em>“I have spent 39 years in this industry and have worked with all types of oil and gas companies all over the world. When I decided to join BG Group it was on the basis of the exceptionally exciting opportunity the portfolio presented.”</em></font></p> <p align="justify"><em><font color="#0000ff" size="2"></font></em><img style="float: none; margin-left: auto; display: block; margin-right: auto" src="data:image/jpeg;base64,/9j/4AAQSkZJRgABAQAAAQABAAD/2wCEAAkGBhQSERUUExQUFRUUFxgUFRQUFxQYGBQVFxcVFBQXFRUXHCYeFxwjGRQUHy8gJCcpLCwsFR4xNTAqNSYrLCkBCQoKDgwOGg8PGikcHBwsLCwpKSkpLCwsKSksKSwpLCkpKSkpLCwpLCwsLCkpLCkpLCwpLCwpLCwpKSksLCwsLP/AABEIALoBDwMBIgACEQEDEQH/xAAcAAACAwEBAQEAAAAAAAAAAAAEBQIDBgEABwj/xAA9EAABAwIDBQcCBQEGBwAAAAABAAIDBBEFITESQVFhcQYigZGhsfATwSMyQtHh8QcUM1JichUWU3OCorL/xAAbAQACAwEBAQAAAAAAAAAAAAABAgADBAUGB//EACsRAAICAQQABQQBBQAAAAAAAAABAhEDBBIhMQUiQVFxEzJhsUIkYpHB0f/aAAwDAQACEQMRAD8AvjZfNEqmMWU/qL3MuQFM4SuoyTaXRJ6xyvxBAKmS6W1EQR8gug6kLSKxa5uad4fUhjLu0AuUlcM1Ri+I3AiabDV3PgFl1eojp8TnIiVsqxrGDUPtnst0F/W3FAwEA/dQ+oBopxPuOA91881GaeaTnP1NcUkHRvuAB/XPciI4+X7X6oFpAGqJhmOmWf2WCSLkFtz+fLBWtkvw4dEA6oVom+cFU4lqGcIub5C/H7cEdCAN+u/P1OpSmCQ21181YJgM3OHrkqdrbHocf34Dde3H7NH3Q0uMOGY13WA065pW6YH9RPRVG973N+atSolFtRisjjfadz7xKHfVOcMwPIe+qsMW/VXCk7pOmlvW6a0HaANkJ325jX+VxxIOvl+6PZQ52Ck+gJAy5D7lHeiKBVSyEj5qrZr2z1J9PmamKTMBu7U9P5XcQds5Dy9r+iiYrRGnab63z35HzTIjT8x9x14pRSTOvy3g/a6askvp0sd3IXTMrJV0AdHawvuPNfPsTgIdmvowBtprY+P8rJdpaU32hppwv8zWrTz/AImfKrVmYKipuUCtZlPJp2dP4oStH4I60oWrROs8PkjPo0re4Ehq32Kcl/cCQ1rble0ydEkfS2MXi1RY5SsqQEJtEkqoSSnc+iVTOV+IZC6SOyAqAmEjkvq3rSgPsW1DrAlZuWcknPXXmnuIHunpms80Hz4ryXjmWUskY+i/Y0C1jr9UQ1uWeXvZDNHRT2v6rzbVlyCrWIG7dzV4vx8/3QcbiOPNER3PP7KmSLohIsOfVERsJsSoQQptSUV8z6LJkmkbceJso+mfD36r3/DydB4J1HQ8vRXw0+45c7LOpl/0kZ9tBbcmEOGEDp7J7T4cHZeB90zpML3Ecwm3NgcUjKNwnPfa/tnmj3YaWtBtxtf3WiZhgu0W1OvzxTIYSLg+CYV0ZWlwQki+gGeXoOaMdgo0A0HD5b+FrIqIDcPBB1osDb5ZSiJmLq6QR5Wvcbr35fus/VEOeSXAHUblpsYNrnK/j72WWfHcnLmb7vFPFlUzxo8u9odDu8eSpDHMNr57iM7jgjqeQt3i3AnI+P3RRpmvbcDT9OWXTjvVhmZyiqw4Z90neP0kaHn/AFSvHoLhwd18+HJS2yxxB0OQ66jzXZ5g9t99iFdjdMSRhJWWVaMxJlnkc8kGuiYmcRmFOtK1BonDv8RvVXad1lj8oB9DZnGEqqozdMoXH6aAqJF7mfQGfQ26KV1ENUxEs7CUyBLqhiZStsldU9X4hkKqlyWVGaZVLUvmC0voR9iPH5w1oYNdfBJ75IjF3kym/kh2j+V8/wBdNzzSv0ZaibTkpxX4fPsolunoiYWblzpOi6MbZ5jNwR1LBZVwQZplDFmsmTIdDFj9QuhprkaLQ4dS3SujhyFlo8PZkFzpO2bkqRdDRb/RWvpjlp5I2OMDRc2LjROLZVTUud79bZJvHFbgN2qCgZb+UbG/Mc00eCuSL4YLOGnzJHU/EgIPaV9O/mrUyloulHDyQVTTix3+COLgBZDzvyRkRIxGM4YTcjLz91i3HYfYmx3Xyv4r6zXRd0nz5r5t2qo9l1wMiqovkMlaBozmeeZ4jmBvUWz7BydceOXRA0dSRzAPl0/ZW1Rac9OY1H7hakjI+A+cCRt/1Dhv4hLg2ziN2+3EKMFTsutx9eB6q2UXN953br7x9/FWRXJWzM47H+ISNNfBK04x5lnDiLtI8cknK6K6Mk+ziupPzt6qlW0x77eqsxfevlCH0Ogd+GLqmqjB4K+id+Ghqhe8fRH0fQWOUttLhKURGVQ4UA7M9KKkZpq9qWVJzV2IdC+diXzhG1L0umctQr7MzjcffJ5paw5ptjnulUTV8ycnJycu7f7NeaKjLj2CGC6LgjQsOSYQD1WbIy3ErCqdqZ0kZJ0uqKaEJrSxjdqM1zcsjp40HU1CDpdp+bk5w1jm5OGXFAYbOCbHI8OC0NHT7xms6LX0QgffTrlwRLXg6a8FGaBpINs+IyKi1huRr1VlidlwKtYFQLjUH50VzJhxRA0XCexRDJN46pfbPd/CKYywzKKYGgr+8BVHNcaN4US063Hgi2LSB6h1llO1lJ3Tz91qXEkm/RJO1FjEUqIz5hE+zyr5MtNDpyQsh7xG8Ihxuw8sj04rf7MwSBS46cDlfcfmSNimufccxr7IGqabbXDJ3P8A1ePvdWwSnZ57WvUD9h6q5KymwDHL7TvUJMUdiUhc431Ht/CBW1dGWTtnFOA94dQoKUeo6poOpIU+i0H+F4IKd+aNwjOLwQFebFe+b8tg9D6G2IBdLwEK6puogkqvY/UJc+W6X1SLIsEpq581bjXPAyYJVFL5Ajp9EvctAr7EmNx+6Aporp3iUdx4IKlhs26+ZapqObJFekn+zoTjbi/witsCtpbg2OqJghVjYM1gcy+MKLmz2/oj6HELHT+iXsfc2sNdToiDTE6ZLLKK9S6La6NVCI5LOGThqneETkZHTUdFhIJ5GZHdvt6J3hmNACx1VTjRfGV8M3Dtlwz14hDvprHI+aCo8UadCrK7EALH58zUDtd8FrJSCb+YU9Rn6oeOYOFyrWSacN48/wBkA0FQRDhu1CJbEOZQ0TxbRFMeeCZISTJ7DbflQ81rZG3JXvmtwVE0wPBM0IgN+QSTtI+0f2Tn6wJWa7UP7mfX9koWfPJ/8Ta3add1vVRhmzsd487WH7KLiST5+I09CULUSWsR8uP4XTirVHLk6djSF9+6eYtxGfz+qrEJ+nlqHbuHwoYSX2XDW2nA701mNoiRq4A6cMzfwTxVMD6MxXs7x3OBzHHogiiKuS7r8UMtZkfZ5dC4vBFAPoeCP/CHRB12ZRHZ1t4h0VVfHYr3secaf4A+jYCMoiNiNjhCtEISSyhBHsuEmqaaxT2pdZJqqS6swtjIVVDUBI2yaTIGZawPsEkhuECYS1p3WNvnktDh9rZoXGmDZyFswvlHiEnDW5Yf3P8AZ2Ix3Y4v2QBRtzR0sVm3QtGzvJ1Uw/h9FzckqkXRXBmXwu2vyjjnuHFW1ZfGGlp/NrbQW6JvLFk146EcUZT08Ujdkmw4cOhVscitWhZ45OPl7E1Bjxu0PbtAjOzSC0gkWIOuQBuMs04LInt2mEAopmFRxd5rbnS7nA2HLLJKXYedsnIDU2O7klybG/LwHCppecJoK2zrXz4J42T6hAG5Y+CL8bukkbVgTvC+g4HQaFUzXNI1QlxbB6ibYaFVD2gGjgboztJTEDaAs0DO3Hcsw6Vu8O6C6HKYU7H57XWsBnr6KA7UF2gJPDNZyXEGMG19E7Olyd/kjsJ7WwAgPYRqLjZ42+ydQk1ZnlKKdDuKqlJuRkc8yj4agk5m6pFUx47pt/lvbPoVRBJtO6X9FKIHgDdvWc7YC2Q3BaWKnIzWZ7UMJDj4JmgI+eltr+/mf3S6fd1t6p/VRWHzcFRhXZ188jcu5vPiuhCairZz5Y3J1EqwikJDeZt7KztXP9N5iFrAa8TrY+i2EGGRxlzj3WQi5PQL5ti+ImaV7z+pxcOQOg8reSmnm8s3L0RZqcaw41F9sCcVAqS4VvOWcXl5eQIbzstL+GOivr23KE7Ju/DCYVjc17zBzij8InobKOUq0SrpjyVRYq+GQ5M64SaqbYpu7RLKxaMQ6FsyCmCJndZASyrUKz0dRbVV1slwOqFklVv0hsg55rw/jng7U5auD47a/wCG/T6lOKxstpj3k/p393PRZ6FuaaU868XkR08ZfJGWHZP5Tor6WDeNk34qTJ2uFneYzUH0JBu12SRSot2ltZIALWS+R1x1Vrqck3cb2Qs0mSm6+g7fctw+mu8Abl9HwSGzRdYTs8y7/Ur6HhseRPAfZGHMgZOInpYw4lZTF8MYJCTcXN3czuyWrhcgscw/abtjd+bpxVr5RVF7ZWI58IZLGGZWOjm6XHEIGj7CHaJJjDb7RDdXW45ZJhBROByLh0TKNkv+Z3A7st6sx5GlRTlwxk91i1vZwhx2DYalh0y9jkmtFQbWdrI2KKzdlvimMcAa0JWuQuQBLFstWPx5ugtxJWvrJLmyTVdO3bDnZ2TqNkXRjafAnPILhZt9OI3+eS1kVG2KFpA6deCZxUBkIJs1jfElUzjbkuRaOPPlkqpty6LsUVH/AGfPf7QsT+nG2mac3d+X7A+PsvnZTvtPiH16iSTc5xt/tGTfQBJSu9hxLFjUTh6nL9XI2RXCpKJTMznF5eXkCGy7Iu7qcVgSHsg/LxWhql7jRu9PD4Cuja3XCuNauSGyUhXKckmqzmj6uqawXe5rRxcQFl8S7UxA9y7zxGTfM6q362PCryNIYvqI7pTVPa3UgeKWVmOyv37I4N/fVL/qXXNz+OY48Yo7vy+EK1YdNVA6K+krC7um1holbuasw6o/EtxC8/rfEc+oxyjJ0n6ItxUppmhpm96yNbFmhaQd5M22uvKTZ3cYZSw+aNMKGgkAV75slRVmtICrn2BSVs20bbkbUSfVfsg2aNSPtzV8+HtDARutZOuECQ37OUhve2S2TDsx9Vm+zje6BxWlq47RjTU+ltysxL1KsndA0MgGqPheCLcUkmvY21+65guK7epzTbqYHByQdJhzoz3BduuzvHRTbt722HMhHtftKD8k1V0U/JTBYL1TWZKuQneg6h2SiZNqKTNvVmHQNe87WgF/HJCNdmj8LeLO439vhTp8AY0fFuAAHJYX+0nHRBCIGHvyjO25mhPjp5rU4ljMcUZe5wAaPll8S7Q4m6ondK79RyHBoyAW/Q6f6s9z6iZNRleONLtiSp0QhRtVogSupk7OUeUSpKJVLIcXl5eSkNV2Q+60VYFmeyLsz1Wpqmr2ugd6aHwFdCP/AJyqv+pbo1n7IeftFUP1mf4G3/yl+0vXXkHrM7/m/wDI1I7I4uN3EnmSSqXXVoK48jos7k5O3yEpDOK86S2i5JLuQ73oCnXyLtJLsyNPMKkleCLVqiJ07NvSO3oqnqLlA4Y7ajB4i6OoqewXBmqbPQYuUhpHIALkqp9QXGw090unnJfa9gPVFRSaKtxo0qQNUsMe04XsfTwVFHjJcdk+B4prO4ObY70udggLu6bHdZPHa15gSfsanB8TAABWm/4iHNsTdYmkwOVrQXuGZAGt1paHC7DNxd85JoxYkpphhxCMnZDgXbxcX8lnZyYJrjJrjceKf0PZuJj9sC51zN1djmEiaM2GYGR+yEoNoaORJ/gvw3EA4A31TF8gKw2A11jsOyLTYrVtlyUhLgXJFJnTmEDiL7WCL2/3Susku88kz4KimaXZBvuzXyyt7eVAlk+k8Bhcdm4B7ug9ltu0+I7MLhvf3B0OvpdfKq+j2DlodFr0mNStyMOqyuNRi6C6jtJNMfxZHOG4bh0AyVjXhwSVXwTkLpLy/bwc5yb75Cqxlgl6bNlDhYoaXD97T4FWOe7sWvYCUSiH0bhu8lQ5pGoSgIry8vIEND2TPfK2E6xnZX85WxmK9l4a/wCmiFGIMijtqBK5deIGLA5RkfkuBt1xwUIVPKqcVIqslOKeXiV6644qANVgM34TfL1K0mHtFlnYab6ccP8ArjD/ADLrpxFKQ3JcbOvM2d3TS8qKcQbZxLRdDDEDvBA8/ZGtsVX9AXVUZejNTjfJZTThwyN+hTbDG3cOXqs/Jh4Obe67lldcgq5oje5PqmpPoZQZvK3as0W0IR8cmQ81lKTtU5wF2guGuvhuTGPG5nZCK/mPcKckeJ0aNtTw0VrK3j6pBG+ZwzDGngCXH0AVctBOM9tpHDMH7o7ipwoq7Q2bUMkZ+u7XW32FwU5o6g7KzDHmaUcGZDrvK0TJSBZVX5h39qQa6bK6S1dTmUTNUbLSfl1nO0lNNFRtqD3RNIIm3vcjZc5zm8u7a/PkrYxc3SM85rGrYgx+v+pJYHuty8d59PRKamIObmrLaFd2cl1McVBUjkTk5ytmbnh2TZQCZ1kV+u5K1enZS1QVFLZFNqUtaURGUGRMPZNyUnPQrXK1rlLGs8+ma7UDwyVT8LadCR6q8le2kbJSLsFg+k+5ItyutWalrxk4Hx+yyLZCph66uk8Unp47KTRNvsALi8FKy44p5pXSVFeJRCUSBVq1+aqKYVnl2Jl3Ac1FGYPDeVqDdKwpWfRMWwkmkhe0XMTQHW/yEZnwPuUpjqe6voGHx/hNH+kD0WXx7suW3fELt1LB+niW8RyXLlHcdHDl28MU0+psi3x6EJbh8tnWKcG1jdZZqmdPHLcigNvfqrGXGh881bTkF1v2TyhomOH2NkEXKLXIqjD92z5J7RZjN3gBZXsw5u4BXnDRbuixTcgnJ9EqeVrRYDPivVP5Tckkg5eC5DBsHPND1VSL5oWVNIz+Fv2fBN/r7RsEullaCS3Upv2bwozyNYL55vdbRv6j9hzISxTboWc0lY57O9lXVJD5biFp00+oRuHBvE+XJT/bzVBsdJC2wF5H7IysGhjG2HDvHyX1qKANaABYNAAA3AaBfBP7acS+riX0wcoI2M/8nXkd6Ob5Ls48Sxxo4eTK8srZiWjIKbV4NsFINTCC6qbYpZVR2N+Kd1jEvmh2gRv3J4sEgBqvYhwro07FRe1WBUgqwFAJYHLt1AOXQVA2TBVrHKgKYKgbB14KKkN6Ap4lQKm5QeoAhsqD2KxRRIVOCedlqfalb83pNJ+VaTsP/ijw90mX7RsfZ9Zp290IhrMlXF+VXMWBFxksdwJriXsFnjPLR3EEcUjD7t56WW3rfzLJYu20ptvAJSZIpo3abI06KcNk7y09NKAL7+Cx9Ke/4rSU5zHzcszVM6kZWh5DNbT+iIjqeaTOPe8FfGU1gkFVNRZZjFcQu6wzOnRNKt2RSvDog6eMEAgvFwQDfPeojJOQT2cwWapfsxMLuLj+Vo4udoOmq+y9muzjKSLZHee7N7+J4DgBwTGmgaxoaxoa0AWa0AAdAFcuniwRhz2zkZtRLJx0iErgAScgNTwG9flPHcV/vNZNPukkc8f7b93/ANbL9K9sXEUFUQSCIJcx/wBty/LVL9leymIUWZBdYvK1g+eCQYGqIkCHWKPnOSWS/PVMiMor6bZdcaO9CqGFMqofgnqPcpa1OuhH2XBTsotVo0QCcauldsohEhIKaifnqpBQJ//Z" width="208" height="146"></p> <p align="center">Andrew Gould: Chairman of British Gas</p> <p align="justify"><font size="3">No doubt BG group’s investment in Tanzania is a very exciting proposition for the company. After all, there are seemingly huge profits to be made in gas over the next few years by securing Tanzanian contracts. </font></p> <p align="justify"><font size="3">As a multimillion $ investors in Tanzania, BG group has immense economic clout and influence upon the government of Tanzania to encourage and secure an effective investor environment both for the Group and, other British investors that seek to invest in the country. It would, it is suggested here, be irresponsible to say the least, to ignore issues of pervasive corruption that impact upon that environment.</font></p> <p align="justify"><font size="3">In March 2014, I sent the following letter to Andrew Gould, seeking his assistance in the Silverdale Farm issue i.e., to hold the Tanzanian government to account for the abuse of law that had led to the destruction of British investment in Tanzania. Investment the owners of which, did not have the economic clout to protect in the face of legal abuse.</font></p> <p align="justify"><font size="3">I sent the following to Mr Gould on 14th March 2014:-</font></p> <h1><font color="#0000ff" size="2"><font style="font-weight: normal">Dear Mr Gould</font>,</font></h1> <p><font color="#0000ff" size="2">I am writing to you in respect of the Silverdale Farm issue in Tanzania a country where BG Group has invested in excess of $1 bn.</font> <p><font color="#0000ff" size="2">I am sure you are aware of this case, a case where I and my husband Stewart Middleton were driven from the country by criminality, abuse and intimidation with the loss of our investment and life savings. </font> <p><font color="#0000ff" size="2">To remind you of the details, in 2004 my husband Stewart Middleton and I purchased a 45-year lease to Silverdale & Mbono farms, situated in the Hai District of the Kilimanjaro Region from Benjamin Mengi, brother to Reginald Mengi owner of IPP Media and co-incidentally, Chairman of the Tanzania Private Sector Foundation.</font> <p><font color="#0000ff" size="2">My husband strategically planned the rehabilitation of the farms into a sustainable and profitable operation, to train and develop a skilled workforce that would persist long after his stewardship of the land. Within the first six months the farms were transformed from derelict and commercially-unproductive land into a productive farming operation employing over 150 Tanzanians from the local community and we were the first farms in Tanzania to earn EUREPGAP accreditation.</font> <p><font color="#0000ff" size="2">One year after the assignment, Benjamin Mengi demanded the lease back, stating he had not been paid in full. This was despite the fact that he had signed a receipt for the monies. When we refused to return the lease, he stated that he would drive us out of Tanzania by any means; “cut to pieces in a coffin, if necessary”.</font> <p><font color="#0000ff" size="2">A four-year campaign of violence and harassment was then unleashed against us, facilitated by the police and judiciary and involving a plethora of State institutions. This included: </font> <p><font color="#0000ff" size="2">The refusal of the authorities to register our lease or recognise our Deed of Assignment; </font> <p><font color="#0000ff" size="2">The destruction of commercial contracts; </font> <p><font color="#0000ff" size="2">Violence to, and the imprisonment of, our key operational staff; and </font></p> <p><font color="#0000ff" size="2">The constant arrest, and ultimate imprisonment, of my husband on trumped-up charges.</font></p> <p><font color="#0000ff" size="2">Benjamin Mengi drove us from Tanzania using the courts, judiciary and government ministers in a campaign of violence and corruption. This criminal conduct remains unchecked despite the personal promises of President Kikwete and his Foreign Minister Bernard Membe that the rule of law would be upheld in this case.</font> <p><font color="#0000ff" size="2">To add insult to injury, Reginald Mengi sued me for Libel in the High Court in London in October 2012. I had alleged that he had used IPP Media to run a campaign of journalist terrorism against us to support his brother’s campaign to grab our investment.</font> <p><font color="#0000ff" size="2">I successfully defended this case. The judge ruled that Reginald Mengi and his witnesses lied to and misled the UK High Court. Importantly, the court found that he was complicit in the corruption of his brother Benjamin in his attempts to steal our property. </font> <p><font color="#0000ff" size="2">However, the Silverdale Farm issue is not about personalities; it is about the systematic abuse of law and theft of our investment facilitated by government agencies. It is interesting to note that Kikwete has not condemned Reginald Mengi’s (or his brother’s corruption) in this case. Albeit on a small scale, we had the opportunity to provide truly sustainable development in Tanzania and to improve the lives of the poor.</font> <p><font color="#0000ff" size="2">Our experience illustrates how the climate of governance in Tanzania discourages private investment. It also works against the promotion of the well-being of Tanzania’s own citizens. </font></p> <p><font color="#0000ff" size="2">Favouritism, corruption, a weak and unreliable application of the rule of law, and lack of respect for the freedoms of the media and the rights of citizens have all been demonstrated by our experience. These things are one ball of wax: the Tanzanian authorities should not treat some people worse than others on a whim. Nor can foreigners be treated differently from citizens, if their legal residence and their properly-regulated businesses are to work for the benefit of society and of themselves.</font></p> <p><font color="#0000ff" size="2">The facts in our case are clear and not disputed. It is at this point that I ask for your assistance in holding the Tanzanian government to account for its failure to uphold the law in respect of our legal rights. Large investors such as the BG Group should not consider investing in Tanzania as if our story had not happened or is of no importance. What has happened to us will be repeated unless the authorities are challenged. I have spent five years challenging the authorities who still persist in ignoring me and the British government’s requests to compensate us for our losses in Tanzania. </font></p> <p><font color="#0000ff" size="2">We do not have the economic clout or political leverage of the BG Groups in respect of both the Tanzanian and British governments (the latter could and should do more to assist us) and as such I seek your assistance.</font> <p><font color="#0000ff" size="2">I am taking this opportunity of copying this letter to your Chief Executive Officer Mr Chris Finlayson</font> <p><font color="#0000ff" size="2">Yours sincerely,</font> <p><font color="#0000ff" size="2">Sarah Hermitage.</font> <p align="justify"><font color="#ff0000" size="3">Mr Gould did not respond to this letter personally, he delegated the response which in essence stated that BG has no right or place to become involved with a dispute that is not linked to British Gas.</font></p> <p align="justify"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMPh0urTjY09lI0XqBBo9oHYeV0jWuodIECxA4d_1TpizC1fYIXfDNVmylkMVepXPqxP3ifmy7T4oLQuMODCW6uahWpP8Y_4UCxg3XFD3oOubg8zH7NYmSLAF0JS0el6_IAbenmCF0O4U/s1600-h/management_andrewgould%25255B17%25255D.jpg"><img title="management_andrewgould" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="management_andrewgould" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-9TQS-jOLfrs/U1K0Xdq7iXI/AAAAAAAABy4/760gDLUJs6o/management_andrewgould_thumb%25255B13%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="559" height="260"></a></p> <p align="justify"><font size="3">So, in effect what is being said is, the government of Tanzania can behave as it pleases towards other investors and Tanzanians but so long as it does not effect British Gas or impact on their business activities in Tanzania then they are not concerned.</font> <p align="justify"><font size="3">Whilst being an incredibly selfish view, Andrew Gould’s perfunctory and obfuscatory dismissal of my request is inaccurate in the extreme.</font> <p align="justify"><font size="3">The Silverdale Farm issue is not a “dispute” no matter how convenient it is for Mr Gould to use that label. The Silverdale Farm issue is about the denial of legal rights, denial of access to law and a failure by the Tanzanian government to uphold the law. As one of the largest investors in Tanzania, it very much concerns Andrew Gould and British Gas.</font> <p align="justify"><font size="3">The facts of this issue are clear and “out there”. Andrew Gould has chosen to ignore them: But then, he is in a position to do so.</font> <p align="justify"><font size="3">In his response to me, Andrew Gould has turned his back on the issues of abuse of law that the Silverdale Farm issue illuminates. He would do well to remember, that it is because of people like me my husband and the bravery of our former Tanzanian staff that the BG Group is able to invest in Tanzania. He has dismissed both with unconscionable ease. In doing so, he has dismissed the lives and struggles of decent Tanzanians and illegally dispossessed British investors in the country. Most importantly, he has turned his back on an issue combining commercial illegality, abuse of due process, intimidation, denial of the protection of the rule of law, and of human rights. </font> <p><font size="3">In so many ways the Silverdale issue has everything to do with British Gas and I suggest , Andrew Gould’s position is indefensible.</font> <p>Sarah Hermitage 19th April 2014 ragamuffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05482861108057630824noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7863439190346561185.post-6121484758711478622014-04-04T02:24:00.001-07:002014-04-04T02:24:53.188-07:00UK couple forced off Tanzanian farm faults Cameron trade talks with the country’s president<p> </p> <p align="center"><font size="3">Kent couple lose hundreds of thousands of pounds after Tanzanian businessman’s “corrupt campaign” to take back their 500-acre farm </font></p> <p><img style="float: none; margin-left: auto; display: block; margin-right: auto" alt="British Prime Minister David Cameron (L) greets the President of Tanzania, Jakaya Kikwete, outside 10 Downing Street" src="http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/02870/cameron_2870554b.jpg" width="417" height="264"> <p>British Prime Minister David Cameron (L) greets the President of Tanzania, Jakaya Kikwete, outside 10 Downing Street Photo: AFP <p><font size="3" face="Trebuchet MS">A British couple chased off their farm in </font><a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/tanzania/"><strong><font size="3" face="Trebuchet MS">Tanzania</font></strong></a><font size="3" face="Trebuchet MS"> by powerful local businessmen has criticised </font><a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/david-cameron/"><strong><font size="3" face="Trebuchet MS">David Cameron</font></strong></a><font size="3" face="Trebuchet MS">’s warm reception of the East African country’s president in London this week. </font></p> <p><font size="3" face="Trebuchet MS">Jakaya Kikwete this week met the Prime Minister for a series of meetings at Downing Street that focused on winning multi-billion pound deals for British energy companies in Tanzania. </font> <p><font size="3" face="Trebuchet MS">But Sarah Hermitage and Stewart Middleton have so far fought for 10 years for compensation for what they say is the theft of their farm near the northern Tanzanian town of Moshi, into which they had invested hundreds of thousands of pounds. </font> <p><font size="3" face="Trebuchet MS">The couple is “very frustrated, to say the least” to see Mr Cameron stand alongside Mr Kikwete as he talked of eradicating corruption in business deals, Mrs Hermitage told The Telegraph. </font> <p><font size="3" face="Trebuchet MS">“The Prime Minister seems happy to stand there and hear Mr Kikwete portray Tanzania as a safe place for British investment, to which I would say that could not be further from the truth,” she said. </font> <h4><font size="3" face="Trebuchet MS"></font> </h4> <h4><font size="3" face="Trebuchet MS">“The legal system is corrupt, the police are corrupt, and it is very, very difficult to get anyone to help you as an investor if you run into trouble with powerful people there. </font></h4> <p><font size="3" face="Trebuchet MS">“Somebody, in the High Commission in Dar es Salaam, in London, someone somewhere needs to recognise the pain we’ve been through.” </font> <p><font size="3" face="Trebuchet MS">Mrs Hermitage and Mr Middleton have faced death threats, armed invasions of their farm, repeated arrest and imprisonment on trumped up charges, and vilification in Tanzanian newspapers over their purchase of the land. </font> <p><font size="3" face="Trebuchet MS">The seller, a Moshi businessman whose brother Reginald Mengi owns one of East Africa’s largest media companies and is close to Mr Kikwete, sold the couple the lease to Silverdale Farm in 2004 then a year later demanded it back. </font> <p><font size="3" face="Trebuchet MS">The couple refused, prompting a “campaign of harassment” that forced them to “flee for their lives”, according to a British High Court judge who threw out libel charges Mr Mengi brought against Mrs Hermitage. </font> <p><font size="3" face="Trebuchet MS">In his </font><a href="http://www.5rb.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Mengi-v-Hermitage-2012.pdf"><strong><font size="3" face="Trebuchet MS">Nov 2012 ruling</font></strong></a><font size="3" face="Trebuchet MS">, Mr Justice Bean agreed with Mrs Hermitage that Mr Mengi’s newspapers carried out “journalistic terrorism” on the British couple, to support his brother’s “corrupt campaign to grab the farm”. </font> <p><font size="3" face="Trebuchet MS">Mr Mengi did not challenge the couple’s allegations in court, the ruling said. </font> <p><font size="3" face="Trebuchet MS">“What I really want to emphasise is that Britain is in bed with the Tanzanian government because it wants major gas companies to win contracts there,” Mrs Hermitage said. </font> <p><font size="3" face="Trebuchet MS">“This stuff about promising to look after smaller investors, to protect us, it’s just rhetoric.” </font> <p><font size="3" face="Trebuchet MS">Mrs Hermitage and Mr Middleton are living near Canterbury while they continue their legal fight for compensation for the loss of their investment. </font> <p><font size="3" face="Trebuchet MS">A Downing Street spokesman said that during their discussions on Monday, Mr Cameron and Mr Kikwete “agreed that combating corruption and promoting transparency, accountability and the rule of law were essential for development”. </font> <p><a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/david-cameron/10740196/"><font size="3" face="Trebuchet MS"></font></a> <p><font size="3" face="Trebuchet MS"></font> ragamuffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05482861108057630824noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7863439190346561185.post-63590930782686441942014-03-31T02:59:00.001-07:002014-03-31T03:15:57.103-07:00President Kikwete tells business “keep away from corruption” standing next to corrupt businessman Reginald Mengi.<p> </p> <p align="justify"><font size="3"><font style="font-weight: normal">Addressing members of the Confederation of </font></font><a href="http://in2eastafrica.net/category/general-info/tanzania/"><font size="3"><font style="font-weight: normal">Tanzania</font></font></a><font size="3"><font style="font-weight: normal"> Industries (CTI) at the prize giving of the 2013 President’s Manufacturer Awards <font size="3"><font style="font-weight: normal">President Kikwete of Tanzania identified corruption and tax evasion as among major obstacles to the country’s economic development and called for compliance among business people and companies.</font></font></font></font></p> <p align="justify"><font size="3">One of the most prominent business people in Tanzania is Reginald Mengi. Owner of IPP Media a huge media empire and listed on Forbes as being wealthy in excess of $500 mil. He is also corrupt. Further, his corruption relates to the destruction of foreign direct investment in Tanzania which impacts on the investment environment in Tanzania and is an issue which is close to Kikwete’s heart.</font></p> <p align="justify"><font size="3">In 2012 Reginald Mengi sued British investor in Tanzania Sarah Hermitage in respect of five postings on her Silverdale Farm blog and two emails she had sent, which Mr Mengi claimed to be false and defamatory of him. </font></p> <p align="justify"><font size="3">During the trial, the Court heard unchallenged evidence from Sarah Hermitage and her husband, Stewart Middleton, as to how they were by threats, intimidation and corruption driven from Tanzania and forced to abandon the investment they had made in their farm, Silverdale, of which Reginald Mengi’s younger brother, Benjamin, then took possession.</font> </p> <p align="justify"><font style="font-weight: normal" color="#0000ff" size="2"><em>The Court was told that a major factor in the ordeal they suffered was the hostile and defamatory coverage their case received from the IPP-owned English language Guardian and the Swahili Nipashe newspapers. Reginald Mengi, in the course of his evidence, repeatedly stated that he “was not responsible, not accountable and not answerable” for the editorial content of IPP publications.</em></font></p> <p align="justify"><font style="font-weight: normal" color="#0000ff" size="2"><em>In giving Judgment, Mr Justice Bean ruled:</em></font></p> <p align="justify"><font size="2"><em><font color="#0000ff"><font style="font-weight: normal">“I find that the campaign in the Guardian and Nipashe facilitated Benjamin’s </font><font style="font-weight: normal">corruption of local officials and intimidation of the Middletons and thus helped </font><font style="font-weight: normal">Benjamin to destroy their investments and grab their properties; and that Mr </font><font style="font-weight: normal">[Reginald] Mengi, since he either encouraged or knowingly permitted the </font><font style="font-weight: normal">campaign, was in that sense complicit in Benjamin’s corruption and </font><font style="font-weight: normal">intimidation. The allegation is thus substantially true, and justified at common </font><font style="font-weight: normal">law.”</font></font></em></font></p> <p align="justify"><font size="3">It was extraordinary therefore that Kikwete made his remarks standing side by side with Reginald Mengi. What is even more extraordinary is that he did not turn to Mengi and say “Mr Mengi you are corrupt and I will not stand on the same stage as you”.</font></p> <p align="justify"><font size="3">The below photograph and article was published in the part State owned media the Daily News. The article specifically highlights the fact that Reginald Mengi shares the stage with Kikwete. Other publications did not do this.</font></p> <p align="justify"><a title="http://in2eastafrica.net/business-firms-warned-against-corruption-tax-evasion/" href="http://in2eastafrica.net/business-firms-warned-against-corruption-tax-evasion/">http://in2eastafrica.net/business-firms-warned-against-corruption-tax-evasion/</a></p> <p align="justify"><font size="3">Kikwete insisted that industries should keep away from any form of corruption. IPP Media is perhaps one of the largest media industries in Tanzania yet it does not seem to worry Kikwete that the London High Court found that it had engaged in a campaign of journalistic terrorism and operated a campaign of journalism in favour of himself. </font></p> <p align="justify"><font style="font-weight: normal" color="#0000ff" size="7"><strong>The Daily News</strong></font></p> <p align="center"><font size="4"><strong>Business firms warned against corruption and tax evasion</strong></font></p> <p><img style="float: none; margin-left: auto; display: block; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="President Jakaya Kikwete hands over a trophy to the Chief Executive Officer of Jambo Plastics Ltd, Ms Rupa Suchak, after emerging the overall winner of the President’s Manufacturer Awards of the Year (PMAYA) 2013 in Dar es Salaam on Friday. Looking on is the former Chairman of CTI, Mr Reginald Mengi. (Photo by Frank Kimaro)" src="http://www.dailynews.co.tz/images/resized/images/kiwards_300_195.png" width="456" height="304"></p> <p align="justify"><font color="#0000ff" size="1">President Jakaya Kikwete hands over a trophy to the Chief Executive Officer of Jambo Plastics Ltd, Ms Rupa Suchak, after emerging the overall winner of the President’s Manufacturer Awards of the Year (PMAYA) 2013 in Dar es Salaam on Friday. Looking on is the former Chairman of CTI, Mr Reginald Mengi</font></p> <p><font size="3"><font style="font-weight: normal">PRESIDENT Jakaya Kikwete has identified corruption and tax evasion as among major obstacles to the country’s economic development and called for compliance among business people and companies. </font></font></p> <h1><font size="3"><font style="font-weight: normal">President Kikwete made the remarks when addressing members of the Confederation of </font></font><a href="http://in2eastafrica.net/category/general-info/tanzania/"><font size="3"><font style="font-weight: normal">Tanzania</font></font></a><font size="3"><font style="font-weight: normal"> Industries (CTI), at the occasion to give prizes to winners of this year’s President’s Manufacturer Awards (PMAYA) for 2013.</font></font></h1> <p><font size="3">The event was held in Dar es Salaam on Friday night and Jambo Plastics Limited emerged the overall winner. Mr Kikwete said serious investment would lead to economic growth that the country is in need of for people’s development.</font> <p><font size="3">However, he insisted that industries should keep away from any form of corruption, especially tax evasion as the practice undermined revenue collection. “Tax evasion is a serious flaw which should not be entertained at any production unit.</font> <p><font size="3">Giving or receiving bribes is a serious offence and should be reported to appropriate authorities for proper action,” President Kikwete said.</font> <p><font size="3">He also underscored the need for industrial owners (employers) to improve the working conditions for their employees by providing the necessary work facilities, insisting that both sides need each other to sustain production.</font> <p><font size="3">“Without workers there is no production and production comes from industries which offer job opportunities. It is important that working environments are improved accordingly in terms of security, better remunerations and work relations,” he clarified.</font> <p><ins><ins><font size="3"></font></ins></ins> <p><font size="3">In his address, Mr Kikwete emphasised on the on going efforts by the government to improve the infrastructures, including the Dar es Salaam port as the major export and import entry point.</font> <p><font size="3">In attendance was the Minister for Industries, Dr Abdallah Kigoda who said deliberate efforts had been made to address challenges that existed and marred the industrial sector, by involving the private sectors to discuss some critical matters to come out with solutions.</font> <p><font size="3">“Industrial sector still has many challenges including poor infrastructure, lack of expertise and availability of electricity which doesn’t reach the industrial needs. Due to that we are working very closely with investors by arranging different meetings to have views on how to solve those challenges,” he said.</font> <p><font size="3">On his part, The Chairman of CTI, Dr Samuel Nyanta he expressed his sincere gratitude to the government on behalf of the whole members, saying that the government has been always supporting industries, the fact which led to the economy growth in 2013.</font> <p><font size="3">“Government did a great job for the growth of economy through industries, we witness different projects taking place in the country, just to facilitate production in industries especially in infrastructure through roads, gas and electricity,” he explained.</font> <p><font size="3">Some 33 outstanding manufacturers were nominated for the PMAYA awards, where the top awards went to Jambo Plastics Limited followed by Tanzania Breweries Limited and Shelys, an Aspen Group Company.</font> <p><font size="3">By FRANK KIMARO, </font><a href="http://dailynews.co.tz/"><font size="3">Tanzania Daily News</font></a> ragamuffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05482861108057630824noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7863439190346561185.post-53012191234324413772014-03-05T10:18:00.001-08:002014-03-05T10:20:09.001-08:00Name corrupt people says Reginald Mengi. We do: Reginald Mengi, you are corrupt!<p align="justify"> </p> <p align="justify"><font size="3">On 21st February 2014 at a luncheon in Dar es Salaam to congratulate two journalists recently set free by Tanzania’s Kisutu Magistrate’s Court in a case of sedition, IPP Media owner Reginald Mengi told editors and journalists from various media organizations that they should name corrupt individuals stating “If you know someone who is corrupt, regardless of what </font><font size="3">titles she or he has, just mention the name; don’t hide it” </font></p><a title="http://www.ippmedia.com/frontend/?l=65080" href="http://www.ippmedia.com/frontend/?l=65080">http://www.ippmedia.com/frontend/?l=65080</a> <p align="justify"><font size="3">This was an extraordinary statement by Reginald Mengi given he was found to be guilty of corruption in the UK High Court in 2013. In 2010, Reginald Mengi sued British Lawyer Sarah Hermitage, in respect of five postings on her Silverdale Farm blog and two emails she had sent, which Mr Mengi claimed to be false and defamatory of him</font>.</p> <p align="justify"><font size="3">During the trial, the Court heard unchallenged evidence from Sarah Hermitage and her husband, Stewart Middleton, as to how they were by threats, intimidation and corruption driven from Tanzania and forced to abandon the investment they had made in their farm, Silverdale, of which Reginald Mengi’s younger brother, Benjamin, then took possession. The Court was told that a major factor in the ordeal they suffered was the hostile and defamatory coverage their case received from the IPP-owned English language Guardian and the Swahili Nipashe newspapers. Reginald Mengi, in the course of his evidence, repeatedly stated that he “was not responsible, not accountable and not answerable” for the editorial content of IPP publications.</font></p> <p align="justify"><br><font size="3">In giving Judgment, Mr Justice Bean ruled:<br></p></font> <p align="justify"><font size="3">“I find that the campaign in the Guardian and Nipashe facilitated Benjamin’s corruption of local officials and intimidation of the Middletons and thus helped Benjamin to destroy their investments and grab their properties; and that Mr [Reginald] Mengi, since he either encouraged or knowingly permitted the<br>campaign, was in that sense complicit in Benjamin’s corruption and intimidation. The allegation is thus substantially true, and justified at common law.”</font></p> <p align="justify"><font size="3">Following the handing down of the Judgment, Sarah Hermitage said :</font></p> <p align="justify"><font size="3">“I set up my Silverdale Farm blog in 2009 to document our horrific experience in Tanzania, and to expose as a warning for others the corruption we encountered and our helplessness with no protection from the local Courts and officials. As the Judge has found, my response to the campaign waged against us in IPP publications was reasonable, proportionate, relevant and without malice. To find myself then sued for libel in my own country, facing a claim of legal costs of £300,000 from Mr Mengi before the proceedings had even started, was itself frightening and oppressive. I am relieved that, with the support of my legal team who were prepared to risk getting paid nothing at all under a “no win, no fee” agreement, justice has in the end prevailed in this case. I also must thank the brave and honest Tanzanian journalists who either openly or privately assisted in the preparation of our defence. I will continue to use my blog, my voice, to do all I can to fight against the corruption I have seen first hand in Tanzania, not least in the hope that it may in the end help the very good people, not least our loyal staff, who have stood by us throughout”</font></p> <p align="justify"><font size="3">After handing down judgment Mr Justice Bean ordered that Reginald Mengi should pay the defence costs at the higher “indemnity” rate. In reaching this decision, the factors cited by the Judge included that Counsel for Sarah Hermitage had “rightly described the litigation as “oppressive”, that “enormous costs had been thrown at the case from the beginning, indeed before the issue of proceedings” and that the evidence of the Claimant and his witnesses had in a number of respects been “misleading and untrue.”<br></font><font size="3"></font></p> <p align="justify"><font size="3">Mr Justice Bean ordered that Reginald Mengi should </font><font size="3">pay £1.2million on account of Sarah Hermitage’s legal costs, which were subjected to detailed assessment by the court. </font><font size="3">The trial is estimated to have cost Reginald Mengi in excess of £3 million.</font></p> <p align="justify"><font size="3">Reginald Mengi made three appeals against the judgement. The first in open court which was refused by LJ Bean and two further appeals to the Court of Appeal which were refused on the basis that he and his witnesses had lied to the court and his company lawyer<u> </u><a href="http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=3&cad=rja&ved=0CEMQFjAC&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.zoominfo.com%2Fp%2FAgipitus-Nguma%2F1193797574&ei=I1kXU_mTGeK6ygOanYKABw&usg=AFQjCNG5JOxoG5HljQsdgUCvUZtgTX86JA&sig2=YomawfBsceEiwhaYCxc96g&bvm=bv.62286460,d.ZG4">Agipitus Nguma<u> </u></a>had not properly carried out his duties. He was refused leave to appeal to the Supreme Court.</font></p> <p align="justify"><font size="3">Reginald Mengi is a close friend of President Kikwete of Tanzania. Despite giving his assurances to the British government that he would uphold the rule of law in the Silverdale affair, neither Kikwete or his Foreign Secretary Bernard Membe has done so or, condemned the corruption of the Mengi family or Tanzanian State officials complicit in the corruption that led to the theft of Silverdale Farm from the British investors.</font></p> <p align="justify"><font size="3"></font> </p> <p align="justify"><img src="http://www.ippmedia.com//images/frontend/logo.jpg"></p> <p> </p> <h4>Dr Mengi: Name corrupt people, don`t taint whole institutions</h4> <p>By Emmanuel Onyango <p>22nd February 2014 <p><img style="float: none; margin-left: auto; display: block; margin-right: auto" src="http://www.ippmedia.com/media/picture/large/Dr%20Reginald-Mengi-Feb22-2014(1).jpg" width="280"> <p>The Tanzania Media Owners Association (MOAT) has pointed a finger at journalists who report on supposed corrupt individuals without being fair and objective in relation to ethics and professional conduct in journalism. <p>MOAT chairman Dr. Reginald Mengi taunted journalists yesterday in Dar es Salaam that it was high time that they should say the truth and not mingle words as unaccredited reporting and generalizing matters. That amounts to saying that the corrupt groups in society are only the police, courts, medical workers or teachers.</p> <p>Dr. Mengi said that it was not fair to report in such a manner as it would mean that everybody who is working in those fields or belongs to such groups is corrupt.</p> <p>“If you know someone who is corrupt, regardless of what titles she or he has, just mention the name; don’t hide it,” he told the gathered editors and journalists from various media organizations at a luncheon to congratulate two journalists recently set free by the Kisutu Magistrate’s Court in Dar es Salaam in a case of sedition. </p> <p>The journalists are former Tanzania Daima Managing Editor Absalom Kibanda, and former group editor for Mwananchi Communications Ltd, Theophil Makunga.</p> <p><br>The acquittal of the two senior journalists is an occasion to celebrate the right to speech, by all media personnel in the country.</p> <p><br>Narrating how to net corrupt people, Dr. Mengi said journalists have to do thorough investigations in order to get names of the culprits one by one from the suspected groups and report their names through mass media without fear as they shall have gathered enough details to support them.<br>“Mentioning one group is not fair at all as not all people are corrupt. There are some who are clean and are not happy to hear their image being tarnished,” he said. </p> <p><br>He stressed the need for journalists to work tirelessly in order to combat grand corruption in a particular institution and reveal them as this is the only way to end such malpractices in the country. </p> <p><br>Dr. Mengi further told journalists that whoever writes issues related to corruption targeting a particular institution that it is fully involved in such malpractice, such a journalist does not perform his/her duties as required.<br>Journalists must be courageous while performing their duties without fear of reporting on an institution. It is disappointing for the personal integrity of those who are completely innocent, he stated.</p> <p><br>Earlier, Dr. Mengi was invited by Tanzania Editors’ Forum (TEF) top official Neville Meena who thanked him for his dedication and efforts he has been showing towards mainstreaming media fraternity in the country.<br>He also thanked the over 70 editors in the print and electronic media who were following up the case of the two top editors and showed tolerance and effective solidarity up to the end.</p> <p><br>On his part, Theophil Makunga thanked Dr. Mengi and fellow journalists including editors who worked to bring to a happy conclusion the case that he and Kibanda faced.</p> <p><br>He said that during earlier court proceedings, he could not believe that he was among suspects, but by the time the case was put to judgment he realized that it had come to such a serious stage.</p> <p><br>He narrated the torture he underwent, denied the right to move outside the country to attend the graduation ceremony of his daughter at the University of Nairobi.</p> <p><br>On his part, Absalom Kibanda stressed the need for journalists to continue showing solidarity when in trouble as this shows that their emancipation will not be blocked by curbing the freedom of expression.</p> <p>SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN <p><a title="http://www.ippmedia.com/frontend/?l=65080" href="http://www.ippmedia.com/frontend/?l=65080">http://www.ippmedia.com/frontend/?l=65080</a> ragamuffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05482861108057630824noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7863439190346561185.post-75468987482438668992014-02-14T01:14:00.001-08:002014-02-14T01:14:29.191-08:00Tanzania Elephant Slaughter: Daily Mail.<p> </p> <p><a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/"><img alt="MailOnline - news, sport, celebrity, science and health stories" src="http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/sitelogos/logo_mol.gif" width="454" height="102"></a></p> <p align="left"><font size="5"><strong>Tanzania slaughters over 11,000 elephants a year for the bloody trade in tusks and its President turns a blind eye, so will the Prince really shake hands with him?</strong></font></p> <ul> <li><b>On Thursday, a summit on how to save endangered species begins</b> <li><b>Is being hosted by the Government at the behest of the Prince of Wales and Duke of Cambridge at London's Lancaster House<br></b> <li><b>50 heads of state and ministers will attempt to agree a global response</b> <li><b>Illegal trade in wildlife parts is worth £6bn a year and funds terrorist groups</b></li></ul> <p>By <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/search.html?s=&authornamef=Martin+Fletcher">Martin Fletcher</a> <p><font size="1"><strong>PUBLISHED:</strong> 22:00 GMT, 8 February 2014</font> <p><font size="3">In the gilded grandeur of London's Lancaster House this week, the President of Tanzania, Jakaya Kikwete, will be greeted with smiles and handshakes by the Prince of Wales, the Duke of Cambridge, David Cameron and William Hague. </font> <p><font size="3">Yet this diplomatic nicety, at the start of a summit on how to save the world's most endangered species, will be a moment of supreme irony. For Mr Kikwete's regime has presided over a slaughter of elephants that is unprecedented in his country's history. Even worse, conservationists insist that many within the Tanzanian government's ranks have been willing and active accomplices in that slaughter.</font> <p><font size="3">At Thursday's summit, the most ambitious yet, 50 heads of state and ministers will attempt to agree a global response to an illegal trade in wildlife parts that is worth £6 billion a year and funds terrorist groups.</font> <p><img alt="Prince Charles and Camilla with Tanzania's President Jakaya Kikwete and First Lady Salma Kikwete at the State House in Dar es Salaam November 7, 2011" src="http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/02/08/article-2554773-1B4BF11E00000578-306_634x479.jpg" width="443" height="337"> <p><font size="3">China will be the pantomime villain at the summit. Its newly rich middle class, now numbering about 350 million, buys around 70 per cent of Africa's poached ivory, which they consider the ultimate status symbol. They also buy powdered rhino horn as a cure for everything from cancer to hangovers. Like cocaine in London, it is the cool thing to serve after fancy dinner parties.</font> <p><font size="3">At the same time, Africa will be painted as the 'victim' of Asian avarice, and with some justification. It has been plundered on such a scale that an elephant population once numbered in the millions has plummeted to barely 400,000 and rhinos to scarcely 25,000. </font> <p><font size="3">But the truth is that in some African states the rich, the powerful and officials at every level are actively colluding with the international criminal cartels that earn billions of dollars from trafficking tusks and horns. </font> <p><font size="3">Ministers, law enforcement agents, conservation officials, rangers - those charged with protecting African wildlife are cashing in on its destruction, and nowhere more so than in Tanzania. In the late 1980s, Tanzania, home to Africa's second-largest elephant population, led the war on poaching and championed the international ban on ivory trading that was adopted in 1989. Today, it is the epicentre of the poaching epidemic sweeping through the continent's forests and savannas.</font> <p><img alt="Natural Resources and Tourism minister, Ambassador Khamis Kagasheki, looks at a pile of elephant trophies impounded at a Mikocheni house in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania" src="http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/02/08/article-2554773-1B4BF11A00000578-642_634x422.jpg" width="467" height="315"> <p>Natural Resources and Tourism minister, Ambassador Khamis Kagasheki, looks at a pile of elephant trophies impounded at a Mikocheni house in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania<br><font size="3"></font></p> <p><font size="3">A third of all the illegal ivory seized in Asia comes from or through Tanzania. The country is losing 30 elephants a day, or nearly 11,000 a year. Nearly half the country's elephants have been shot, speared or poisoned since 2007, leaving scarcely 60,000 in total. A particularly shocking report revealed recently that the giant Selous game reserve, a Unesco World Heritage Site that boasted 70,000 elephants five years ago, now has barely 13,000. At the present rate, Tanzania's elephants will be extinct within seven years.</font></p> <p><font size="3">Tanzania is effectively a one-party state with a pervasive intelligence apparatus, and nobody seriously contends that this slaughter is happening without high-level complicity. Yet not a single kingpin has been charged and convicted. MPs, senior officials and businessmen are named in parliament and the media, but investigations fizzle out and little happens. </font> <p><font size="3">Illegal ivory is still on sale in markets in the Tanzanian cities of Dar es Salaam and Arusha. Poached tusks from across Eastern and Central Africa flow out of Tanzania's ports without apparent hindrance. Almost all the major seizures of illegal ivory emanating from Tanzania since 2009 - more than 30 tons in total - were made not in the country itself, but in Asia.</font> <p><b><font size="3">'In Tanzanian national parks, poorly paid, ill-equipped and demoralised rangers are easily bought with bribes bigger than their salaries'</font></b> <p><font size="3">The UN is reportedly considering trade sanctions against Tanzania over its failure to crack down on the trade.</font> <p><font size="3">'Corruption is a huge problem at all levels,' Alfred Kikoti, head of Tanzania's World Elephant Centre, said. 'From people on the ground all the way up to ministers, there's somebody involved in poaching.'<br>Peter Msigwa, a clergyman and shadow minister of natural resources, said: 'The government is doing nothing because some of the people supposed to be solving the problem are part of the problem.'<br>And Mary Rice, executive director of the London-based Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA), agreed, saying: 'None of these networks could possibly operate without complicity at the most senior level.'</font> <p><font size="3">Conservationists briefly had cause for hope. In 2012, Khamis Kagasheki, an urbane former ambassador to Switzerland, was appointed minister of natural resources and confronted the ivory traders with unprecedented vigour, declaring: 'We must fight against this scourge at all costs.' </font> <p><font size="3">He denounced corruption. He submitted a dossier to the president's office identifying prominent Tanzanians colluding with the poaching syndicates (it has not been acted on). He sacked or suspended about 30 corrupt wildlife officials. He excoriated police chiefs for shielding suspects, and suggested poachers should be shot on sight. He identified at least four MPs suspected of complicity in poaching. Last autumn, he launched a military crackdown which led to hundreds of arrests. Tons of illegal ivory was seized and the elephant slaughter was briefly curtailed.</font> <p><font size="3">But the operation was abruptly suspended in November amid claims that soldiers were killing, raping and displacing innocent people. Soon afterwards, Kagasheki and three other ministers were dismissed. Ostensibly this was because of the human rights abuses but few conservationists believe that. </font> <p><img alt="Illegal ivory is still on sale in markets in the Tanzanian cities of Dar es Salaam and Arusha" src="http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/02/08/article-2554773-1B4BF09F00000578-613_634x424.jpg" width="460" height="311"> <p>Illegal ivory is still on sale in markets in the Tanzanian cities of Dar es Salaam and Arusha <p><font size="3">Dr Kikote says: 'If the operation had continued for another month, we would have seen MPs or ministers arrested.' More than 700 wildlife activists have signed a petition demanding Kagasheki's reinstatement. 'It is now clear that his remaining in office would have been a very big threat to those who organise poaching and profit from it and some are in the highest levels of government,' the petition declares.</font> <p><font size="3">Contacted by The Mail on Sunday, Mr Kagasheki said he would speak out at some point, but not yet.</font></p> <p><font size="3">Many - perhaps most - officials in Tanzania are honest and committed, but they appear to be fighting a losing battle at every level. In the national parks, poorly paid, ill-equipped and demoralised rangers are easily bought with bribes bigger than their salaries. 'Rangers collude with the poachers by either telling them when patrols will be going out, or helping them pinpoint herds,' the EIA said in 2010. </font></p> <p><font size="3">Environmentalists say ammunition of the sort used by the security forces has been found near elephant carcasses. Poachers have been found with text messages to government officials on their phones. Tusks are sometimes transported to Dar es Salaam and other east coast ports in police or military vehicles that are never stopped at checkpoints, the EIA says. </font> <p><font size="3">There, the ivory is put into shipping containers, often concealed in cargoes of soya beans, dried fish or timber, but it is seldom seized because the police, port and customs officials are all involved. <br>'It is inconceivable for a container loaded with elephant teeth [tusks] to pass through the port in the presence of Tanzania Revenue Authority, customs and port authorities undetected,' Kagasheki declared before his dismissal. </font> <p><b><font size="3">'Conservationists say the Wildlife Division is the most corrupt government agency of all, and accuse its officials of selling seized ivory on the black market'</font></b> <p><font size="3">The names of the big traders in Dar are well known. They include some of the country's richest businessmen, backers and members of the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) party, and even a close relative of President Kikwete. But they have powerful friends - and judges, prosecutors and police are easily bribed.</font> <p><font size="3">The thousands of Chinese now working in Tanzania fuel the trade. Some of the major ivory traffickers in Dar are said to be Chinese. So are many of the middlemen. Last November, three Chinese men were caught at their home in Dar with 1.8 tons of ivory hidden among sea shells filled with garlic. A Channel 4 documentary claimed that when Hu Jintao, the then Chinese president, visited Tanzania in 2010, his officials took illegal ivory back on his plane. </font> <p><font size="3">Conservationists say the Wildlife Division is the most corrupt government agency of all, and accuse its officials of selling seized ivory on the black market. They accuse the government of submitting fabricated figures to sell more of that ivory on the international market, ostensibly to raise money for conservation but in reality to fill the CCM's coffers before next year's elections.</font> <p><font size="3">Thursday's summit is being hosted by the Government at the behest of the Prince of Wales and Duke of Cambridge. Charles will address the event and Prince William, who spent some of the happiest months of his life in Africa during his gap year and proposed to his wife on a Kenyan reserve, will be by his side.</font> <p><font size="3">Environmentalists are hoping that the summit will highlight Tanzania's lamentable record. 'The government has not yet got serious about this,' said one activist. 'There's too much collusion and profit and vested interests at high levels. The only thing that will make them act is international shame and disgrace.'</font> ragamuffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05482861108057630824noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7863439190346561185.post-21786731011796283622014-02-14T00:26:00.001-08:002014-02-14T00:29:34.048-08:00The Citizen Newspaper Tanzania: Hype and Hypocrisy<p> </p> <p><font size="3"></font> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBD5SiooHuknUR6WBKLdKd7iyNghBLCKlJs_9yn_66i33Visi9dpuVi5x_64GgAvPR081NsdwPwCZ4Zam2w-BP78eJJkk1zsFjt_XH_Vx-TfE4CzINC52dewle_Rl4946O4EiF_6To1mM/s1600-h/The%252520Dubious%252520Tanzania%252520Citizen.%25255B13%25255D.jpg"><img title="The Dubious Tanzania Citizen." style="float: none; margin-left: auto; display: block; margin-right: auto" alt="The Dubious Tanzania Citizen." src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-Zr_RCWxPYzU/Uv3TMgsxhXI/AAAAAAAABvo/MCJn0efWu1k/The%252520Dubious%252520Tanzania%252520Citizen._thumb%25255B9%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="323" height="324"></a></p> <p><font size="3">The Citizen newspaper is at it again. Throwing its partisan toys out of it’s cot at the behest of well…… who knows? </font></p> <p align="justify"><font size="3">The below article appeared in the paper on 13th February, minus a by-line! The title, “Uk media must be fair in anti-poaching drive” seems to disguise the fact that the article is little more than an attack once again on Sarah Hermitage, one of the British investors in the Silverdale Farm case.</font> </p> <p align="justify"><font size="3">The summary of the article states “Can she prove beyond reasonable doubt, that British Gas, which has plans to invest heavily in Tanzania’s natural gas sector, is a product of the so-called oil and gas for elephants”. However, no one knows who the “she” is as the summary does not state it..</font></p> <p align="justify"><font size="3">The Citizen purports to focus on the issue of poaching in Tanzania and a critical article published this week in Britain’s Daily Mail newspaper on the role of President Kikwete in Tanzania’s attempt to curb it. It then jumps to Sara Hermitage (as opposed to Sarah) and states “</font><font size="3">What we don’t understand, however, is the on going campaign by some Britons [being] </font><font size="3">abusive and a true reflection of how the Western media at times tend to report Africa in ways that suits their prejudices” </font></p> <p align="justify"><font size="3">I</font><font size="3">t then goes on to implicate Ms Hermitage in this campaign stating “</font><font size="3">For instance one Briton, Ms Sara Hermitage, has been busy tweeting that President Kikwete should be arrested while attending the London Summit that will be attended 50 Heads of State and Government”.</font></p> <p align="justify"><font size="3">This was a lie by the Citizen. Hermitage did no such thing. What she did was tweet the following three tweets which were used to highlight to President Kikwete who she knew was in London what she and her husband suffered in Tanzania when attempting to access the rule of law vis-a-vis the theft of their Farm Silverdale, by Benjamin Mengi.</font> <font size="3">There is no ambiguity in the context of her tweets as seen below:-</font></p> <p><a href="https://twitter.com/jmkikwete"><font size="1"><s>@</s><b>jmkikwete</b></font></a><font size="1"> I hope when in London next week u r arrested and imprisoned in abuse of law, all your property is stolen and you suffer 1/3 </font> <p><font size="1">2/3 </font><a href="https://twitter.com/jmkikwete"><font size="1"><s>@</s><b>jmkikwete</b></font></a><font size="1"> savage media defamation campaign. Your staff are imprisoned and threatened with beheadings and some are hacked close to death </font> <p><font size="1">3/3 </font><a href="https://twitter.com/jmkikwete"><font size="1"><s>@</s><b>jmkikwete</b></font></a><font size="1"> Hope you lose your life savings & r denied any access to law. You have already lost your self respect. We still have ours! </font> <p align="justify"><font size="3">Whilst the Tweets are certainly not polite, they do not in any way as the Citizen suggests, call for the arrest of President Kikwete. So, the Citizen lied. But we don't know who lied as there is no by-line so we will fix the responsibility for the lie on the executive editor Bakari Steven Machumu who must take responsibility for what gets published and why. </font> <p align="justify"><font size="3">Hermitage does and has Tweeted constantly criticising the Kikwete regime for corruption and indeed on the issue of Elephant poaching. But so have other far more notable personalities yet she is singled out by the paper’s un by-lined and poorly written piece.</font> <p><font size="3">In 2012, Ms Hermitage successfully defended a Libel action brought against her in the London High Court by Reginald Mengi in relation to her accusations that he had used IPP Media to defame her and destroy her reputation in order to assist his brother in the theft of the the lease to Silverdale Farm.</font> <p><font size="3">The judgment of LJ bean was damning of Reginald Mengi who he found (along with his witnesses) to have lied to and misled the court. The judge found Reginald Mengi complicit in the corruption of his brother Benjamin in the theft of the lease to Silverdale Farm. He was denied leave to appeal both to the Appeal and Supreme courts in the UK. The judge also stated that he probably had met the threshold under Tanzanian law for the criminal offence of Criminal Libel should the authorities wish to arrest him, which of course, they did not. </font><font size="3">The judge also found that IPP Media operated a favourable media policy in respect of President Kikwete.</font> <p><font size="3">Now Reginald Mengi is not a nobody is in Tanzania is he? He is a powerful and rich media owner with awards and dubious qualifications coming out of his hat. He states he is against corruption (so the London High Court ruling poses somewhat of a problem for him) even </font><font size="3"> exposing in the Sharks of Corruption case who he felt to be the ten most corrupt men in Tanzania. </font> <p><font size="3">The fact that he had spent what is estimated to be over £3 million on suing Hermitage for Libel and losing and, being found to be corrupt would be of interest to the Citizen newspaper. After all, it states below, “<font size="3">We are .. strong advocates and defenders of the freedom of expression, for we believe they are one of the pillars of a free and democratic society.”</font></font> <p align="justify"><font size="3">Freedom of expression is indeed a pillar of society but not it seems for the Citizen when it comes to letting its readers know of the corruption of Reginald Mengi. It failed to print one word on the case or the verdict or judgement. Ummm, so much for a free and democratic society. </font> <p align="justify"><font size="3">But then the Citizen and the Nation Media Group in particular has been trying to shut Ms Hermitage up for some time now. See the following link for a detailed expose of how they have done this :-</font> <p align="justify"><a title="http://thesilverdalecase.blogspot.com.es/2011/12/east-africa-media-moghuls-want-to.html" href="http://thesilverdalecase.blogspot.com.es/2011/12/east-africa-media-moghuls-want-to.html">http://thesilverdalecase.blogspot.com.es/2011/12/east-africa-media-moghuls-want-to.html</a> <p align="justify"><font size="3">In late 2010 Hermitage provided information to Mr. Amadou Ba, chief executive officer of the African Media Initiative (AMI). The information provided to Mr. Ba concerned various issues on the abusive use of IPP Media to defame her and destroy her business interests in Tanzania.</font> <p><font size="3">AMI board member Eric Chinje stated the following in respect of Hermitages correspondence:-</font> <p><font size="2"><font color="#0000ff"><em>“No more direct correspondence with Ms. Hermitage. She will always find reason to keep you (and the rest of us) focused on her case. I am also of the view that we should quickly put our heads together and, if need be, seek legal counsel on a way forward. This woman will not stop: AMI affords her an important regional platform to air her grievances. We must avoid playing into her hands.</em></font></font> <p><font color="#0000ff" size="2"><em>I suggest we quietly take up the matter with concerned authorities in the UK and Tanzania, rejecting the notion that this regional initiative can be held hostage by any individual, be they a rich taxpayer from a donor country. The arrogance is baffling! (I was at the ICFJ yesterday and this subject came up, especially with regard to Joyce's role as co-chair of AMLF 2010. I detected a certain level of concern about the whole issue and interest in how we planned to handle it.) </em></font> <p><font color="#0000ff" size="2"><em>Can a conference call be organized on Friday to agree on the outlines of a strategy to deal with this? I will not be surprised to find others with similar grievances lurking in the outfield and wanting to resort to the same tactics. </em></font> <p><font color="#0000ff" size="2"><em>Du courage! Eric</em></font> <p><font size="3">Linus Gitahi, CEO of the Nation media Group and member of AMI’s board of directors was copied the information and stated that Hermitage should be ignored.</font> <p><font size="3">It is not the first time there has been an attempt to stir up racial hatred, (or just hatred against Hermitage) over </font><font size="3">her activity regarding the state of corruption in Tanzania. </font> <p><font size="3">In early 2013 Mbaraka Islam, Reginald Mengi’s editor for his paper This Day went on You Tube and posted a frenzied ranting asked the Tanzanian public to demonstrate against Hermitage on the streets of Tanzania. See link:-</font> <p><font size="3"><a title="http://thesilverdalecase.blogspot.com.es/2013/03/mbaraka-islam-incites-racial-hatred.html" href="http://thesilverdalecase.blogspot.com.es/2013/03/mbaraka-islam-incites-racial-hatred.html"></p> <p>M <div id="scid:5737277B-5D6D-4f48-ABFC-DD9C333F4C5D:9239aae5-f915-4921-8d93-9b23e13fd159" class="wlWriterEditableSmartContent" style="float: none; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px"><div id="09ed02f9-8e96-4308-ab30-fb7bf96456f0" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; display: inline;"><div><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebiQ6T28nGk" target="_new"><img src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-i_1bp8ey12o/Uv3T67aXP3I/AAAAAAAABv4/lxBuHaDqvzM/video9c49e8cdf8cd%25255B37%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" style="border-style: none" galleryimg="no" onload="var downlevelDiv = document.getElementById('09ed02f9-8e96-4308-ab30-fb7bf96456f0'); downlevelDiv.innerHTML = "<div><object width=\"448\" height=\"252\"><param name=\"movie\" value=\"http://www.youtube.com/v/ebiQ6T28nGk?hl=en&hd=1\"><\/param><embed src=\"http://www.youtube.com/v/ebiQ6T28nGk?hl=en&hd=1\" type=\"application/x-shockwave-flash\" width=\"448\" height=\"252\"><\/embed><\/object><\/div>";" alt=""></a></div></div></div></a></p> <p>All in all, this illiterate and hypocritical piece of journalism (and I use that word lightly) has more importance than giving Ms Hermitage free publicity. It does nothing to serve the Tanzanian public’s human right of access to information or in any way promotes a <em>democratic society which the Citizen states it is committed to.</em></p> <p> It does do, a lot to serve the interests of certain individuals in Tanzania. </font><font size="3">In any event, it is an indictment on the reputation of the Agha Khan and his vision for a free and objective African media.</font><font size="3">The Citizen article states “</font><font size="3">As a nation, we would like to be challenged fairly”. Now isn’t that just the pot calling the kettle black! </font></p> <h1><font color="#0000ff" size="7">The Citizen</font></h1> <h1><b><font size="2">Thursday </font></b></h1> <h1><font size="2">February 13, 2014</font></h1> <p><font size="5">UK media must be fair in anti-poaching drive</font></p> <p> <img alt="" src="http://www.thecitizen.co.tz/image/view/-/2204126/highRes/685377/-/maxw/600/-/95uxj8/-/editoon.jpg" width="453" height="318"></p> <h1><font size="2">In Summary</font></h1> <h1><em><font size="2">Can she prove beyond reasonable doubt, that British Gas, which has plans to invest heavily in Tanzania’s natural gas sector, is a product of the so-called oil and gas for elephants?</font></em></h1> <p><font size="3">There have been a lot of heated debate on whether President Jakaya Kikwete has been taking any serious measures aimed at taming poaching.</font> <p><font size="3">This debate took a new turn this week, when a leading UK newspaper, Mail on Sunday, wrote strong worded article accusing President Kikwete’s regime of presiding over the slaughter of elephants that is unprecedented in Tanzania’s history.</font> <p><font size="3">We fully understand that poaching is a serious problem, not only in Tanzania but in Africa, especially in Democratic Republic of Congo, Central Africa Republic and South Africa.</font> <p><font size="3">We are also strong advocates and defenders of the freedom of expression, for we believe they are one of the pillars of a free and democratic society.</font> <p><font size="3">What we don’t understand, however, is the on going campaign by some Britons who purport to be much more concerned about the elephants in Tanzania than Tanzanians themselves!</font> <p><font size="3">This campaign, to say the least, is abusive and a true reflection of how the Western media at times tend to report Africa in ways that suits their prejudices.</font> <p><font size="3">For instance one Briton, Ms Sara Hermitage, has been busy tweeting that President Kikwete should be arrested while attending the London Summit that will be attended 50 Heads of State and Government.</font> <p><font size="3">A section of UK’s media has also portrayed Tanzania as a corrupt country, a country that has totally failed to curb poaching. They are totally ignoring all measures that have been put in place to fight the jumbo slaughter, short of which we probably could be counting a mere dozen or so of the priceless animals surviving today.</font> <p><font size="3">Granted, there is corruption in our country. We also are poor in terms of our economic performance though in natural resources, we are very rich. We also understand poaching is a national disaster that must be ended. However, what we cannot bear are the unjustifiable attacks from Britons and their media, directed at President Kikwete and Tanzanians as a whole.</font> <p><font size="3">As a nation, we would like to be challenged fairly – with facts. Ours might be an economically struggling country, but that doesn’t give licence to the likes of Ms Hermitage to brand it the most corrupt and dictatorial regime where justice doesn’t exist!</font> <p><font size="3">This woman and her fellow Britons cannot hide the fact that UK is one of the most corrupt countries in the world. It is UK that sold a military radar to Tanzania at an inflated price about a decade ago.</font> <p><font size="3">It is Britain’s then Prime Minister Tony Blair who blocked Serious Fraud Office from investigating the most corrupt arms deal between British Aerospace Engineering (BAE) and the Saudi regime.</font> <p><font size="3">Ms Hermitage, in one of her tweets, says: “If the British public only knew, we now trade oil and gas for elephants and self-respect.”</font> <p><font size="3">Can she prove beyond reasonable doubt, that British Gas, which has plans to invest heavily in Tanzania’s natural gas sector, is a product of the so-called oil and gas for elephants?</font> <p><font size="3">The fact that Britain gives aid to Tanzania doesn’t mean we should be their targets of insults and humiliation.</font> <p><font size="3">There comes a time when we all have to stand united as a country, as Tanzanians, regardless of our political and ideological differences and say “No” to unjustifiable media campaign aimed at tarnishing the image of our nation. This is it.</font> <p><a title="http://www.thecitizen.co.tz/oped/Uk-media-must-be-fair-in-anti-poaching-drive/-/1840568/2204118/-/item/1/-/1oe2prz/-/index.html" href="http://www.thecitizen.co.tz/oped/Uk-media-must-be-fair-in-anti-poaching-drive/-/1840568/2204118/-/item/1/-/1oe2prz/-/index.html">http://www.thecitizen.co.tz/oped/Uk-media-must-be-fair-in-anti-poaching-drive/-/1840568/2204118/-/item/1/-/1oe2prz/-/index.html</a> <p><font size="3"></font> ragamuffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05482861108057630824noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7863439190346561185.post-8733061061638796952014-01-16T03:21:00.000-08:002014-01-16T03:29:19.608-08:00Norweigan government ignores correspondence on corruption in Tanzania<h3 class="utdU2e" style="text-align: center;">
The most melancholy thing about human nature, is, that a man may guide others into the path of salvation, without walking in it himself; that he may be a pilot, and yet a castaway. </h3>
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Augustus William Hare and Julius Charles Hare, Guesses at Truth, by Two Brothers, 1827</h3>
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high levels of corruption in Tanzania and the issue of Norwegian aid to
Tanzania was in the headlines again in 2013 when Norway stopped aid to the
Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism after allegations of corruption and
missing aid.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">However it seems that
some elements of corruption may be acceptable to the Norwegian Government i.e.
when it comes to the conduct of the rich and powerful in Tanzania and men like
Reginald Mengi.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Reginald Mengi is a rich
and powerful media owner in Tanzania. He is also corrupt. He was found by
the London High Court in December 2012 to have been complicit in the
corruption of his brother Benjamin to steal the lease to Silverdale & Mbono
Farms in the Hai District of the Kilimanjaro Region in Tanzania from British
investors Sarah Hermitage and Stewart Middleton. He and his witnesses were
found to have lied to and misled the court and Reginald Mengi himself was found
to have probably met the threshold for the crime of criminal libel in Tanzania
should the authorities wish to prosecute him. Of course they have not.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">In December The East
Africa Association of Grantmakers honoured Mengi with the East Africa
Lifetime Achievement in Philanthropy Award for 2013 stating “This Award is
normally given out to individuals for having committed their lives and
demonstrated their passion to philanthropy work in the region......it is
bestowed on people having made great contributions to the wellbeing of humanity
and the society they live in.” Seemingly those also complicit in corruption and
the destruction of bona fide investment in Tanzania.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"> <span style="font-size: x-small;">Norway's Ambassador to Tanzania, Ingunn Klepsvik, presents East Africa Association of Grantmakers' Lifetime Achievement in Philanthropy Award to Dr Reginald Mengi</span> </span></span></div>
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bestowed on Mr Mengi at a dinner in a Dar es Salaam by Norway's Ambassador to
Tanzania Ingunn Klipsvik.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The following email was
sent to Ambassador Klepsvik in respect of the presentation and a separate email
was also send to Norway's Foreign Minister </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B%C3%B8rge_Brende" title="Børge Brende"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Børge Brende</span></span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">. Neither has had the courtesy to
acknowledge receipt of the correspondence which is self-explanatory </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Norway's Foreign Minister </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B%C3%B8rge_Brende" title="Børge Brende"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Børge Brende</span></span></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms,sans-serif;">Dear Ambassador </span><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms,sans-serif;">Klepsvik,<br /><br />I write to you somewhat distressed.<br /><br />Norway is renowned for its anti corruption stance and ranks exceptionally favourably on Transparency International's Corruption index and is familiar with the high levels of corruption in Tanzania.<br /><br />On Wednesday 4th December at a dinner in Dar es Salaam you presented Reginald Mengi a Lifetime Achievement in Philanthropy Award on behalf of the East Africa Association of Grantmakers.<br /><br />This is an organisation that by its own Internet publication states it is committed to developing and strengthening partnerships with governments, civil society, the private sector and development partners with values of transparency and accountability, integrity and is committed to principles of trustworthiness and incorruptibility guided by honesty and of moral conduct.<br /><br />It is inconceivable that you are not aware of the circumstances of the Silverdale Farm issue in Tanzania.<br /><br />In 2004 my husband Stewart Middleton and I invested in Tanzania. We purchased a 45-year lease to Silverdale & Mbono farms, situated in the Hai District of the Kilimanjaro Region from Benjamin Mengi, brother to Reginald Mengi.My husband strategically planned the rehabilitation of the farms into a sustainable and profitable operation, to train and develop a skilled workforce that would persist long after his stewardship of the land. Within the first six months the farms were transformed from derelict and commercially-unproductive land into a productive farming operation employing over 150 Tanzanians from the local community and we were the first farms in Tanzania to earn EUREPGAP accreditation.<br /><br />One year after the assignment, Benjamin Mengi demanded the lease back, stating he had not been paid in full. This was despite the fact that he had signed a receipt for the monies. When we refused to return the lease, he stated that he would drive us out of Tanzania by any means; “cut to pieces in a coffin, if necessary”.<br /><br />A four-year campaign of violence and harassment was then unleashed against us, facilitated by the police and judiciary and involving a plethora of State institutions. This included:<br /><br />The refusal of the authorities to register our lease or recognise our Deed of Assignment; <br /><br />The destruction of commercial contracts; <br /><br />Violence to, and the imprisonment of, our key operational staff; and <br /><br />The constant harassment arrest, and ultimate imprisonment, of my husband on trumped-up charges.<br /><br />Benjamin Mengi drove us from Tanzania using the courts, judiciary and government ministers in a campaign of violence and corruption. Despite five years of effort by the British Government, through its High Commission in Dar es Salaam and senior government ministers in London, this criminal conduct remains unchecked despite the personal promises of President Kikwete and his Foreign Minister Bernard Membe that the rule of law would be upheld in this case and we would be compensated for our losses.<br /><br />Reginald Mengi was complicit in this corruption that destroyed our investment and drove us in fear of our lives from Tanzania by abusing his power.<br /><br />I posted such accusations on my web site when I was forced by his corruption to return to England. He then sued me for libel in the London High Court where according to my counsel "he beat me over the head until I submited" and I would not.<br /><br />Reginald Mengi bombarded the court with his Tanzanian witnesses and his lawyer Mr Nguma. The judge ruled that Reginald Mengi and his witnesses lied to and misled the UK High Court and found him to be complicit in the corruption of his brother Benjamin in his attempts to steal our property. He also found that he had probably committed Criminal Libel under Tanzanian law should the Tanzanian authorities wish to prosecute. Mr Mengi appealed the judgement three times and was refused the appeal on the basis that he lied to the court and he has been refused an application to the Supreme Court. I attached the judgement of the case and a press release from my lawyers.<br /><br />Mr Mengi was ordered to pay costs on an indemnity basis and I believe his costs were in excess of £3,000,000.<br /><br />Whilst this case is not about personalities; it is about the systematic abuse of law and theft of our investment facilitated by government agencies and powerful men like Reginald Mengi. It is interesting to note that President Kikwete has not condemned Reginald Mengi’s (or his brother’s corruption) in this case.<br /><br />Your action has validated the reputation of Reginald Mengi both to Tanzanians and the outside wold.This undermines the bravery and suffering of our former Tanzanian staff and every human rights activist attempting to reinforce civil society and the rule of law in Tanzania. You have validated a liar, thief and a cheat and demonstrated that its OK to be corrupt if you are rich and powerful. Respectfully this is indefensible and an indicement on the integrity of Norway's commitment to fighting corruption.<br /><br /> My husband and I are two private citizens of one member-state of the European Union. I write to you as the representative of another European member-state in Tanzania because I believe that you and all EU governments are collectively interested in assisting Tanzania to eradicate poverty through development aid, private-sector investment and better governance. Our experience illustrates how the climate of governance in Tanzania discourages private investment. It also works against the promotion of the well-being of Tanzania’s own citizens.<br /> <br />Favouritism, wide-spread abuse of power, corruption of the legal system, a weak and unreliable application of the rule of law, and lack of respect for the freedoms of the media and the rights of citizens have all been demonstrated by our experience. These things are one ball of wax: the Tanzanian authorities should not treat some people worse than others on a whim. Nor can foreigners be treated differently from citizens, if their legal residence and their properly-regulated businesses are to work for the benefit of society and of themselves.<br /><br />Our experience is an affront to European common values, our willingness to assist the ordinary citizen in Tanzania to a better life, and is an impediment to Tanzania’s forward progress. The facts in our case are clear and not disputed. I ask you to consider the argument that EU development and investment policies should not be formulated as if our story had not happened or is of no importance.<br /><br />Reginald Mengi facilitated what happened to us. What has happened to us will be repeated, and probably still is to others, unless the authorities are challenged. You have not made that challenge and have in effect condoned what happened to us and our former Tanzanian staff and on any level, diplomatic or otherwise, this is indefensible.<br /><br /> I simply cannot understand why Norway would behave in such a way.<br /><br /><br />Yours sincerely,<br /><br />Sarah Hermitage.</span></span></div>
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ragamuffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05482861108057630824noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7863439190346561185.post-4446162755683239922014-01-02T08:17:00.001-08:002014-01-02T08:17:24.039-08:00Tanzania: Appalling Human Rights abuses under Kikwete's watch!<p style=" margin: 12px auto 6px auto; font-family: Helvetica,Arial,Sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 14px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; -x-system-font: none; display: block;"> <a title="View Tanzania: Appalling Human Rights Abuses Under President Kikwete&#x27;s Watch. on Scribd" href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/195274385/Tanzania-Appalling-Human-Rights-Abuses-Under-President-Kikwete-s-Watch" style="text-decoration: underline;" >Tanzania: Appalling Human Rights Abuses Under President Kikwete&#x27;s Watch.</a></p><iframe class="scribd_iframe_embed" src="//www.scribd.com/embeds/195274385/content?start_page=1&view_mode=scroll&show_recommendations=true" data-auto-height="false" data-aspect-ratio="undefined" scrolling="no" id="doc_36154" width="100%" height="600" frameborder="0"></iframe>ragamuffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05482861108057630824noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7863439190346561185.post-31277901181137816972013-12-18T09:13:00.001-08:002013-12-18T09:13:29.599-08:00President Kikwete of Tanzania holds hands with the corrupt!<p> </p> <p> </p> <p><font size="3">It is an indictment on Tanzanian’s governance that President Kikwete holds hand so to speak with the corrupt.</font></p> <p><font size="3">Seen below, Kikwete is in effect sticking two fingers up at the British High Court and British Tax payers money that is paid to the government of Tanzania in aid.</font></p> <p><font size="3">In December 2012, the British High Court found Reginald Mengi to be corrupt. It held that in respect of the Silverdale Farm case, Reginald Mengi had been comp-licit in his bother Benjamin’s corruption in the theft and destruction of British investment in Tanzania. To clarify, Reginald Mengi was found to have been complicit in corruption that destroyed private sector investment in Tanzania. The court also found he lied to and misled the court along with his witnesses and that he was probably guilty of criminal libel vis-a-vis the law of Tanzania.</font></p> <p><font size="3">It is repugnant hypocrisy on the part of |Kikwete that he is seen here holding hands with Reginald Mengi at a meeting which is designed to improve the business environment in Tanzania to attract foreign investment.</font></p> <p><font size="3">Tanzania has fallen to 145th place in the World Bank’s Doing Business Report in respect of which Kikwete states </font><font size="3">“you need to analyse who and what is responsible for the poor ranking. These must be put to task. We must remove all obstacles that lead to such poor ranking.”</font> <p><font size="3">This begs the comment, Mr Kikwete all the time you support the corrupt, you remain at the bottom of the list!</font> <p><font size="3">This is not an issue about Reginald Mengi, it is an issue of a President that accepts corruption from the rich and powerful. </font> <p><font size="3">That Mr Kikwete, is corrupt in itself!</font> <p><font size="3"></font> </p> <h3>JK talks tough on improving doing business environment</h3> <p> <img style="float: none; margin-left: auto; display: block; margin-right: auto" alt="" src="http://www.thecitizen.co.tz/image/view/-/2115920/highRes/646826/-/maxw/600/-/d7ag14/-/jk+mengi.jpg" width="416" height="215"> <p align="center">President Jakaya Kikwete with Reginald Mengi (left) in Dar es Salaam on Monday. <p><font size="2">By Veneranda Sumila ,The Citizen Reporter<br>Wednesday, December 18 2013 </font></p> <p><strong>In Summary</strong> <p><strong>Dar es Salaam.</strong> Tanzania’s poor ranking in World Bank’s Doing Business Reports -- which are highly respected by international investors -- will soon improve if government officials take President Jakaya Kikwete’s directives seriously. <p><font size="3">Tanzania has featured poorly in the reports in the past six years consecutively.</font> <p><font size="3">In its 2007 Doing Business Report, the WB and its private sector-leaning arm -- the International Finance Corporation (IFC) -- ranked Tanzania among the world’s top 10 reformers. That mark was, however, short-lived as in a similar report in 2008, the country slipped three places to clinch the 127th position out of 181 countries surveyed.</font> <p><font size="3">Likewise, in the 2010 report launched in September 2009, Tanzania dropped to 131st place. The trend has persisted and the latest report puts Tanzania on position 145 globally and the last in East Africa.</font> <p><font size="3">Unhappy with the trend, Mr Kikwete yesterday directed government officials to find a solution that would see the country improve its doing business environment.</font> <p><font size="3">“You need to analyse who and what is responsible for the poor ranking. These must be put to task. We must remove all obstacles that lead to such poor ranking,” President Kikwete said while gracing the 7th Tanzania National Business Council (TNBC) meeting in Dar es Salaam on Monday. This is the second time the President gives such a directive, the first was after the issuance of the 2010 report.</font> <p><font size="3">Speaking at a WB workshop on ‘Improving Tanzania’s Business Environment’ in Dar es Salaam in March 2010, the then minister of state in the Prime Minister’s Office responsible for Policy, Co-ordination and Parliamentary Affairs, Mr Phillip Marmo, said the reports were a wake-up call to the government.</font> <p><font size="3">He said the government had initiated a team of permanent secretaries – under the chairmanship of the then permanent secretary in the PMO, Mr Peniel Lyimo – to come up with a road-map for improving Tanzania’s business environment.</font> <p><font size="3">Without delving into the findings of My Lyimo’s team, President Kikwete said yesterday there were many investors around the world interested in doing business in Tanzania but they were being put off by the lukewarm reception they were given.</font> <p><font size="3">He hit at those promoting the establishment of executive agencies saying: “Now it is becoming a fashion for every authority and ministry to establish executive agencies. These only consume a lot of money and become hindrances to doing business in the country,” said President Kikwete.</font> <p><font size="3">Members of the private sector say it was only 40 per cent of recommendations made by Lyimo’s team that have been implemented.</font> <p><font size="3">“Lack of accountability among government officials constrains the implementation of the agreed actions,” said Tanzania Private Sector Foundation executive director Godfrey Simbeye recently.</font> <p><ins><ins><font size="3"></font></ins></ins> <p><a><font size="3"></font></a> <ul> <li><font size="3"></a></font></li></ul> ragamuffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05482861108057630824noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7863439190346561185.post-59082988382768612292013-12-17T03:26:00.001-08:002013-12-17T03:26:05.431-08:00Who owns and controls Tanzania’s lucrative gold mines? Prof Muhongo hits out at Mengi!<p> </p> <p><a href="http://www.thecitizen.co.tz/-/1765046/1765046/-/10rwqfs/-/index.html"><img alt="" src="http://www.thecitizen.co.tz/image/view/-/1763452/medRes/507522/-/maxh/100/-/11h9upj/-/logoDaily.png" width="329" height="48"></a></p> <p><a title="http://www.thecitizen.co.tz/-/1765046/1765046/-/10rwqfs/-/index.html" href="http://www.thecitizen.co.tz/-/1765046/1765046/-/10rwqfs/-/index.html">http://www.thecitizen.co.tz/-/1765046/1765046/-/10rwqfs/-/index.html</a></p> <p><a href="http://www.thecitizen.co.tz/News/Who-owns-Dar-s-rich-gold-mines-/-/1840392/2114610/-/43osmtz/-/index.html"><img alt="" src="http://www.thecitizen.co.tz/image/view/-/2114614/medRes/646205/-/h/240/w/150/-/2wqgta/-/muhongo.jpg" width="131" height="188"> </a><a href="http://www.thecitizen.co.tz/News/Who-owns-Dar-s-rich-gold-mines-/-/1840392/2114610/-/43osmtz/-/index.html"><img alt="" src="http://www.thecitizen.co.tz/image/view/-/2114880/medRes/646226/-/h/240/w/150/-/pp84tuz/-/gold.jpg" width="123" height="190"> </a><a href="http://www.thecitizen.co.tz/News/Who-owns-Dar-s-rich-gold-mines-/-/1840392/2114610/-/43osmtz/-/index.html"><img alt="" src="http://www.thecitizen.co.tz/image/view/-/2114876/medRes/646219/-/h/240/w/150/-/egodydz/-/mengi.jpg" width="131" height="187"> </a></p> <p><font size="2">By The Citizen Reporter <br>Posted Tuesday, December 17 2013 at 07:47</font></p> <p>In Summary <ul> <li><strong>From 1996 when Tanzania introduced large-scale mining until today, about $5bn has been invested in the mining sector, with gold taking about 90 per cent. About 95 per cent of the rich Lake Victoria Gold Belt is owned by three companies, while the remaining 5 per cent is owned by small-scale miners. </strong></li></ul> <p><img style="float: none; margin-left: auto; display: block; margin-right: auto" alt="" src="http://www.thecitizen.co.tz/image/view/-/2114614/highRes/646206/-/9xxrc1z/-/muhongo.jpg" width="316" height="163"></p> <p align="justify"><font size="2">“Mengi holds the third position by having an area that is three times the size of Dar es Salaam City...However, he is doing nothing to benefit Tanzanians. Instead, he is enriching himself” Prof Sospeter Muhongo, Minister for energy and minerals </font></p> <p align="center"> </p> <p><font size="3"><strong>Dar es Salaam.</strong> As the debate on participation in the $430 billion natural gas sector moves from real issues to personal attacks, data obtained by <em>The Citizen</em> newspaper tell the other side of the story that is often deliberately skipped to conceal the truth about ownership in Tanzania’s lucrative mining industry.</font> <p><font size="3">According to Energy and Minerals minister Sospeter Muhongo, business mogul Reginald Mengi, who has been criticizing the government for failure to empower locals to participate in the natural gas sector, owns huge tracts of gold and tanzanite mining land.</font> <p><font size="3">Prof Muhongo, one of the few geology and earth science experts in the country, says the very same Mr Mengi who is complaining about locals being left out in natural gas sector is the leading investor in the mining industry who owns a big chunk of the country’s lucrative minerals. </font> <p><font size="3">According to Prof Muhongo, Mr Mengi has many prospecting licences, which he has been holding for many years without developing any viable gold mine.</font> <p><font size="3">Prof Muhongo described Mr Mengi as a mere middleman or an auctioneer who holds many minerals licences, hoping to auction them to foreign investors.</font> <p><font size="3">To Prof Muhongo, Mr Mengi, who was named by Forbes Magazine last month as one of the richest persons in Tanzania with a net fortune of $500 million, should be the last man to complain about being left out of the lucrative natural gas sector.</font> <p><font size="3">But on Sunday, just a day before President Jakaya Kikwete was scheduled to chair a private sector meeting yesterday, Mr Mengi hit back at Prof Muhongo, refuting almost everything the minister said about him a week ago.</font> <p><font size="3">Mr Mengi, who is also chairman of the Tanzania Private Sector Foundation (TPSF), but who spoke on his behalf as a businessman, defended himself against allegations of greed and selfishness Prof Muhongo levelled against him, in a bid to clear the air before yesterday’s meeting. Speaking to journalists in Dar es Salaam, Mr Mengi said there were inaccuracies in what Prof Muhongo has said about him.</font> <p><font size="3">He recalled that early in September, Prof Muhongo was quoted as saying that Mr Mengi lacked patriotism and wanted to act as a middleman in selling blocks of the country’s natural resources. “I would like to clarify the matter so that I don’t go to the meeting tomorrow (yesterday) with statements made by Prof Muhongo uncorrected,” he said.</font> <p><font size="3">“The truth is that I am not selfish, secondly I have never asked for any favour to be given blocks of natural gas…what I’m doing is fight for Tanzanians in general,” Mr Mengi said.</font> <p><font size="3">During a public symposium held at University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM) last week, Prof Muhongo, who was among the key speakers, said Mr Mengi owned land that was three times the size of Dar es Salaam.</font> <p><font size="3">“However, he is doing nothing to benefit Tanzanians, instead, he is enriching himself,” Prof Muhongo said. But Mr Mengi on Sunday said Prof Muhongo gave wrong statistics and data about his ownership of mining land.</font> <p><font size="3">“The truth is that I own the sites under shareholding with my fellow Tanzanians; one mining site is for tanzanite mining and its area is less than one square kilomitre, and not three times the size of Dar es Salaam as he said,” Mr Mengi clarified.</font> <p><strong><font size="3">Who owns Tanzania’s minerals?</font></strong> <p><font size="3">A quick analysis conducted by <em>The Citizen</em> newspaper established that from 1996 when Tanzania, under the leadership of President Benjamin Mkapa, introduced large scale mining till today, about $5 billion has been invested in the mining sector, with gold taking about 90 per cent of the investment.</font> <p><font size="3"><em>The Citizen</em> has reliably established that 95 per cent of the rich Lake Victoria Gold Belt is owned by three companies, which are Anglo Gold Ashanti, African Barrick Gold and Resolute Ltd. The rest five per cent of the Lake Victoria Gold Belt is owned by thousands of scattered and poorly equipped small-scale miners.</font> <p><font size="3">From 1996 till today, a total of six large-scale gold mines were established in the lucrative lake Victoria gold belt, which holds about 90 per cent of Tanzania’s gold reserves.</font> <p><font size="3">The mines are North Mara, Buzwagi, Bulyanhulu, Tulawaka, Golden Pride(Resolute Ltd), and Geita Gold Mine. African Barrick Gold(ABG), a profit-making company with over $1 billion in revenue and a market capitalisation of over $900m and which is Tanzania’s largest gold producer and one of the top five producers in Africa by revenues, owns four gold mines.</font> <p><font size="3">ABG used to own four gold mines before it sold its Tulawaka gold mine to State Mining Corporation (Stamico) early this year. ABG also has plans to open a new gold mine in Sengerema District called Tusker Nyanzaga, which it acquired in 2010.</font> <p><font size="3">Golden Pride located in Nzega town was owned by a foreign company called Resolute Ltd, and was the first gold mine to be opened in Tanzania in the 1990s. The mine has announced the closure of production after reaching its last gold ore reserve.</font> <p><font size="3">Geita gold Mine is owned by Anglo Gold Ashanti Ltd, which is a South Africa-based company that acquired Ghana’s Ashanti Gold Fields in 2000.</font> <p><strong><font size="3">Anglo Gold’s reserves in Tanzania</font></strong> <p><font size="3"> AngloGold Ashanti is a much larger company with a market capitalisation of $4.6 billion, which mines in South Africa, several countries in West Africa and Tanzania, as well as on other continents.</font> <p><font size="3">Geita is the largest of AngloGold Ashanti’s seven open-pit mines in Africa according to a report released by a South Africa-based company released this year, which <em>The Citizen</em> obtained a copy.</font> <p><font size="3">Prior to April 2004, Geita was managed under a joint venture agreement between Ashanti and AngloGold. Since the merger of the two companies, Geita is a wholly-owned subsidiary of AngloGold Ashanti.</font> <p><font size="3">It was initially built at the cost of $160 million and started operations in July 2000 with a production capacity of 600,000 ounces a year.</font> <p><font size="3">The Geita gold mine is located approximately 910km from Dar es Salaam in the Lake Zone of northern Tanzania. The tenements are situated within the Sukumaland Greenstone Belt of the Lake Victoria goldfields, which hosts other gold mines including Golden Pride, Bulyanhulu, Tulawaka and Buzwagi.</font> <p><font size="3">According to details gathered by <em>The Citizen</em>, this geological terrain is considered to be one of the most productive Archaean Greenstone Belts in east Africa. The Geita Greenstone belt is a segment of the Sukumaland Greenstone Belt. This Archaean sequence strikes east-west, is 60km long and up to 15km wide. Data from Anglo Gold Ashanti show that by the end of 2012, Geita Gold Mine has provable gold reserves of 6.88 million ounces valued at gross value of $8.994 billion at the price of $1,300 per ounce, which was used by the company during the valuation of its resources.</font> <p><font size="3">Yesterday, gold price tumbled to $1,234 per ounce down from $1,900 in January, this year.</font> <p><strong><font size="3">ABG minerals reserves and resources in Tanzania</font></strong> <p><font size="3">ABG has established what it calls a Mineral Reserves and Resources Committee which is responsible for reviewing and monitoring ABG’s processes for calculating mineral reserves and resources and ensuring that appropriate internal controls are applied to mineral reserves and resources calculations.</font> <p><font size="3">According to ABG’s report available on its website, mineral reserves have been calculated using an assumed long-term average gold price of $1,500.00 per ounce, a silver price of $28.00 per ounce and a copper price of $3.00 per pound.</font> <p><font size="3">In its minerals reserve and resources assessment done last year, ABG reported that it has total gold reserves (proven and probable) of 16.6 million ounces valued at $24 billion.</font> <p><strong><font size="3"></font></strong> <p><font size="3"></font> ragamuffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05482861108057630824noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7863439190346561185.post-78817510628764983072013-12-10T08:04:00.003-08:002013-12-10T12:54:49.805-08:00Tanzania Private Sector Foundation selects corrupt businessman Reginald Mengi as its Chairman.<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-size: small;">The Tanzanian Private Sector Foundation (TPSF) is the voice of the private sector in Tanzania. It leads business and investment. Its Vision Statement is to be an effective apex
private sector organisation, providing a focal point for the
articulation of private sector led approaches to Tanzania’s economic and
social development. Its mission statement is to be the leading voice for the promotion of vibrant, innovative and a competitive private sector in Tanzania.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-size: small;">The organisation's core values are stated to be a deeply held,including integrity and fair competition. It's strategic objective is amongst other things to facilitate the growth of private sector business through enhancing enterprise competitiveness.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-size: small;">Given these well articulated aims and objectives, trumpetings of honesty and integrity, you would think the organisation would chose a man of impeccable reputation and integrity to be their Chairman. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-size: small;">Not so. The TPSF has as its Chairman Reginald Mengi. Reginald Mengi is a corrupt business man who is a liar and a cheat and who has been found to be complicit in the corruption of his brother Benjamin thatdestroyed lawful private sector investment in Tanzania. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-size: small;">In 2012, in the High Court in London Mr Mengi sued British lawyer Sarah Hermitage for Libel over accusations she made against him on her blog. Mengi lost miserably. To top it off he was ordered to pay costs on the indemnity basis which are believed to be in excess of £3,000.000.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-size: small;">The Judge ruled that Mr Mengi and his witnesses lied to and misled the court and that he personally, had been complicit in the corruption of his brother Benjamin's attempt to steal the lease to Silverdale and Mbono Farms from British investors Stewart Middleton and Sarah Hermitage. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-size: small;">He also found that Mr Mengi had, with the use and abuse of his media IPP Media run a favourable media policy in respect of Tanzania's President Kikwete, probably committed criminal libel against the investors vis-a-vis the laws of Tanzania and had engaged in what Ms Hermitage described as journalistic terrorism.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-size: small;">Reginald Mengi outside the London High Court in November 2013 where he lost his Libel action against British lawyer Sarah Hermitage.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-size: small;">Just the kind of man that an organisation seeking to portray Tanzania's investment environment as conducive to private investment would want to head their organisation? Of course not!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-size: small;">Why then does the TPSF want Reginald Mengi to come within a mile of their organisation and reputation and is it important?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-size: small;">Well Reginald Mengi in himself is not important. He is just one more corrupt, wealthy and powerful African and after all, there are a lot of them. There's a Mengi in every country in the world one might say. So if it's not Mengi that matters why should this be such an important appointment by the TPSF.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-size: small;">Firstly, the TPSF seeks to spearhead investor grabbing in Tanzania. It is a high profile organisation. There are few foreign envoys in Tanzania if any, that are not aware of Mengi's brutal corruption in the Silverdale farm case. They may pay him court, but they will do so tongue in cheek, because they have to, but they won't like it. After all, no one likes a cheat let alone a hypocrite. So Mengi heads the organisation and it immediate loses credibility in the eyes of intended investors in Tanzania. They see Mengi as chairman and wonder what on earth any kind of organisation that seeks to promote investment is doing with a publicly corrupt businessman as its Chairman.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-size: small;">Secondly, the values and mission statement of the TPF are compromised. Mengi's corruption is indefensible vis-a-vis the organisations stated values and the integrity of the organisation disappears. Wherever there is the opportunity that offers personal advantage to someone in some respect there will be an opportunity for corruption and selective disengagement from the vice kicks in. In organisations like the TPSF there would be many such opportunities and that's why it is imperative that it demonstrate a squeaky clean veneer; on the surface at least.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-size: small;">Thridly, it matters because of the message it sends out to those who strive for the protection of human rights in Tanzania and wish to protect those not capable of protecting themselves.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-size: small;">Finally it matters because of the corrosive effects of corruption on creating a business environment that can promote sustainable development and the relief of poverty. As Paul Sturgess states, corruption is a predator which has cheapened public life and fostered an amoral business ethic to the detriment of commercial life. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-size: small;">The appointment of Reginald Mengi by the TPSF is indefensible on any level that is, if anyone is going to take the organisation seriously.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">* TSSF Website: http://www.tpsftz.org/index.php</span></span></span></span></div>
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ragamuffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05482861108057630824noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7863439190346561185.post-44701132276907270942013-12-10T04:55:00.003-08:002013-12-10T04:57:29.705-08:00Hilareous suggestion that the Tanzanian Judiciary be fair!<div class="single_line">
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My response to the following article placed in IPP media today!</h2>
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Judges, magistrates bid to exercise utmost diligence</h2>
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By Karama Kenyunko
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10th December 2013</div>
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Judge Amiri Manento, Chairman of the Commission on Human Rights and Good Governance</div>
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Judges and magistrates in the country have been
encouraged to exercise utmost diligence when passing judgment especially
in criminal cases to avoid the now frequent complaints alleging
violations of human rights and loss of good governance.<br />
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In addition, they have been urged to practice rights under their
capacity and that they should not abuse the power entrusted to them, but
rather act in accordance to the law. <br />
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The call was made by the Chairman of the Commission on Human Rights and
Good Governance, Judge Amiri Manento over the weekend in Dar es Salaam.<br />
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"I urge judges and magistrates to operate justly especially when
delivering e judgment in criminal cases ... it is very sad when a judge /
magistrate sets the date of judgment only to adjourn it to another
date, it's not right," he said.<br />
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"When the date of judgment to the accused of a criminal offence is set
and then becomes constantly postponed, it raises many questions and
potentially affects the psychology of the accused...," said Judge
Manento.<br />
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He was addressing attendants to the launch of several human rights
resource stations in the city where he noted that the launch
commemorates that of a five year special plan focused on supervision of
human rights and good governance<br />
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At the human rights resource stations, various stakeholders were their
to give trainings on the subject, including the Court of Tanzania,
Office of the Attorney General, The Secretariat of Ethics and Public
Leaders, United Nations Tanzania Office, Commission on Human Rights and
Good governance, Ministry of Constitutional and Legal Affairs and Non
Governmental Organisation, TAWLA and WLAC. </div>
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ragamuffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05482861108057630824noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7863439190346561185.post-31993049242473812072013-11-21T09:45:00.001-08:002013-11-21T09:45:41.042-08:00Dr Mary Nagu: Calls for more lambs to the slaughter.<p> <h1 align="center"><font size="3"> Dr Mary Nagu</font> </h1> <h1 align="center"><font size="2"><font style="font-weight: normal">Tanzania’s Minister of Investment and Empowerment</font></font></h1> <p><img title="http://www.ippmedia.com/frontend/?l=53889" style="float: none; margin-left: auto; display: block; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="" 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width="256" height="189"> <p align="center"> <font size="2"> "I encourage you to invest in agriculture ……it will earn you high returns on investment,"</font> <p align="justify"><font size="3">Dr Mary Nagu is Tanzania’s Minister for Investment and Empowerment in the Prime Minister’s Office in Dar es Salaam. Dr Nagu was formally Minister of Justice in Tanzania at a time when the Silverdale Farm issue was in full swing. When British investors and their staff were being unlawfully arrested and imprisoned. When same appealed to Dr Nagu for the laws of Tanzania to be upheld in the face of objective criminality instigated by men like Benjamin Mengi, senior police officers and government ministers, all engaging in corruption to drive British investors Sarah Hermitage and Stewart Middleton from Tanzania in order for Benjamin Mengi to steal their property, the lease to Silverdale and Mbono Farms which they had purchased from him legally. </font> <p align="justify"><font size="3">Dr Nagu’s response, to the investors' appeals and those of the British government for the laws of Tanzania to be upheld. Simply nothing. “How can I resolve this case whilst projecting the Mengi name” she stated to the investors at their home whilst making a private visit to them.</font> <p align="justify"><font size="3">Dr Nagu issued illegal instructions to the investors as to how to deal with their property and set up extra judicial commissions in order for the parties to “negotiate” in fact anything, other than uphold the rule of law in the face of Benjamin Mengi’s corruption and the complicity in this by his brother Reginald.</font> <p align="justify"><font size="3">Shameful that this minister now calls for further investment in agriculture in Tanzania. More lambs to the slaughter!</font> <p align="justify"><font size="3"></font> <h3></h3> <h4><font size="5">Tanzania: Minister Challenges Investors On Farming</font></h4> <p><a title="http://allafrica.com/stories/201311120188.html" href="http://allafrica.com/stories/201311120188.html">http://allafrica.com/stories/201311120188.html</a> <p><font size="3">The government has urged investors to explore abundant potentials in the agriculture sector that assures not only highest returns, but also higher contribution to job creation and poverty alleviation. </font> <p><font size="3">Addressing a group of business people from Europe in Dar es Salaam, the Minister in the Prime Minister's Officer, Investment and Empowerment, Dr Mary Nagu said one of the ultimate goals of attracting investments is to benefit both investors and the society of the hosting country. </font> <p><font size="3">"I encourage you to invest in agriculture and agro-processing especially in food because it will earn you high returns on investment," she told a delegation of businessmen representing almost 70 companies from Belgium, Italy and Greece attending three-day forum organised by Tanzania Investment Centre (TIC). </font> <p><font size="3">She added, "And every additional investment on agriculture and value addition has the potential to exert tremendous impact on the quality of the lives of the people." Over 70 per cent of the population engage in agriculture activities. </font> <p><font size="3">Tanzania is characterised with diverse favourable agro-climatic conditions suitable for the growth of various crops including sugarcane, cereals like rice, maize, wheat and sorghum, coffee, tea and cashewnut with sustainable domestic and international market. </font> <p><font size="3">She said Tanzania has more than 43 million hectares of arable land, out of which one million hectares are of high irrigation potential. </font> <p><font size="3">During the period of 2000 to October this year, the TIC has registered 28 projects from Greece worth 51.2 million US dollars, 33 projects from Belgium valued 150.9 million US dollars and 121 projects from Italy totalling 205 million US dollars. </font> <p><font size="3">Also Dr Nagu implored the business community to explore investments opportunities in the world class tourism attractions, vast potentials in the oil and gas, manufacturing industries like textile, iron and steel, education and health. </font> <p><font size="3">On his part, the Tanzania Ambassador in Belgium and the European Union Dr Deodorus Kamala said the Public Private Partnership (PPP) remains to be an engine of economic growth and the private sector itself when it comes to exploring new markets, technology and global completion. </font> <p><font size="3">"PPP should go beyond working with the private sector itself to ensure sustainable growth in both public and private sectors," he noted. He said EU has remained to be traditional partner to Tanzania when it comes to the flow of investments particularly in accessing capital and markets. </font> <p><font size="3">Dr Kamala added that EU was still committed to support Tanzania and in the next fiscal year it is expected to disburse more than 600 million Euros. </font> <p><font size="3">The Belgium ambassador to Tanzania Mr Koen Adam said the forum will mark new beginning of business relations between the two countries resulting into an increased Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) to the country. </font> <p><font size="3">The Italian Ambassador to Tanzania on his part said, "I believe in capacity building and flow of investments which could lead to job creation and income generation and not just giving aid." </font> ragamuffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05482861108057630824noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7863439190346561185.post-44788350479583537832013-11-19T03:04:00.001-08:002013-11-21T08:59:50.076-08:00Mizengo Pinda in China: Hype, Hypocrisy, Lies!<p> </p> <p align="center"><a href="http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&frm=1&source=web&cd=10&cad=rja&sqi=2&ved=0CFQQFjAJ&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gettyimages.co.uk%2Fdetail%2Fnews-photo%2Ftanzanian-prime-minister-mizengo-pinda-shakes-hands-with-news-photo%2F185030231&ei=wD6LUo_TAoaphAfaoIDADA&usg=AFQjCNGASTlWEo8pdYZ10pA5WKhxvQVPWA"><font size="3"><strong>Tanzanian Prime Minister Mizengo Pinda </strong></font></a></p> <p><img style="float: none; margin-left: auto; display: block; margin-right: auto" src="https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQvM_4ZQ1de8argRWO0PGtLpwmf6_r8qsqrzGOd78OFl_voVXqG" width="377" height="284"></p> <p align="justify"><font size="3">On an all out offensive to secure Chinese investment in Tanzania Prime Minister Mizengo Pinda has been in China sweet talking the Chinese with promises he and his government cannot keep. </font></p> <p align="justify"><font size="3">The reason being, is that the Government of Tanzania is simply not serious about fighting corruption. It says all the right things to sweet persuade the Chinese and western donors into to filling up the aid begging bowl but when push comes to shove, the Government of Tanzania is extremely selective as to whom it holds to account for corruption particularly if they are rich and powerful.</font></p> <p align="justify"><font size="3">Prime Minister Pinda, recently led a trade delegation to China where he met Chinese Premier Li Keqiang to discuss the expansion of economic ties between China and Tanzania. The delegation comprised of </font><font size="3">ministers, regional commissioners, members of parliament, executives from private sector institutions, officials from the Tanzania Investment Centre and other senior government officials and businesspeople.</font> <p align="justify"><font size="3">Mr Pinda encouraged Chinese companies to utilize the opportunities in Tanzania and turn them into profitable ventures </font><font size="3"> assuring them that p</font><font size="3">rivate investments in Tanzania were guaranteed by government policy and law against nationalization and expropriation. </font> <p align="justify"><font size="3">But that is a lie is it not Mr Pinda? That is quite clear from the theft and expropriation of Silverdale Farm due to corruption at the hands of many government ministers and officials and specifically by Reginald and Benjamin Mengi, the former of whom is your close friend and as well as a close friend of President Kikwete!</font> <p align="justify"><font size="3">Reginald Mengi was found to be complicit in the corruption of his brother Benjamin in the grabbing of Silverdale and Mbono Farms in Tanzania from wholly legal and bona fide foreign investors.</font> <p align="justify"><font size="3"> You and your government remain silent on this issue. You do not hold the Mengi family to account for this corruption which is shameful hypocrisy in the light of your statement to the Chinese.</font> <p align="justify"><font size="3">You personally were asked by President Kikwete to sort out the Silverdale Farm issue, but you did not.</font> <p align="justify"><font size="3">Importantly, the Tanzania Investment Centre did nothing to uphold the law and the legal rights of those involved in this case. Quite simply Mr Pinda, your statement to the Chinese is an outright lie. </font> <p align="justify"><font size="3">The Tanzanian government policy facilitated the theft and destruction of Silverdale Farm.</font> <p align="justify"><font size="3">Maybe you simply saw the British investors as “trouble makers” and thought that it was better to sit back and watch them get beaten, as opposed to upholding the law in the face of powerful Tanzanian personalities and interests.</font> <p align="justify"><font size="3">Your statement and all that it hides is an indictment on your government and your office as Prime Minister.</font> <p align="justify"><img src="http://cdn.mobstac.com/img_uploads/aa-logo.png" width="218" height="82"></p> <p><font size="4">Tanzania: Boom Time for Chinese Involvement in Tanzania </font> <p><font size="1">18 November 2013 , Source: Focac</font> <p><font size="3">Chinese companies and their Tanzanian counterparts signed seven cooperative agreements and memorandums of understanding (MOUs) valued at billions of dollars in Guangzhou late last week.</font> <p><font size="3">Shanghai Electric Power Co and Tanzania Electric Supply Co Ltd will invest about $400 million in Kinyerezi Power Project in Tanzania.</font> <p><font size="3">The agreements mainly involved energy, mineral resources, power supply, housing and other infrastructure industries.</font> <p><font size="3">The signing ceremonies were witnessed by Mizengo Pinda, the prime minister of the United Republic of Tanzania, and Lu Youqing, the Chinese ambassador to Tanzania, at the first Tanzania-China Business Forum in the capital of Guangdong province on October 24.</font> <p><font size="3">The forum was jointly organized by the Tanzania Investment Centre and the China Africa Business Council. Officials from Chinese and Tanzanian enterprises and business executives at the one-day forum also discussed investment and trade in a bid to expand the two nations' economic ties.</font> <p><font size="3">Pinda praised the role played by the Tanzania-China Business Forum in helping to improve economic ties between the countries.</font> <p><font size="3">Pinda, who led a big trade delegation, arrived in Guangzhou after attending the 14th Western China International Fair in Beijing, where he also met Chinese Premier Li Keqiang to discuss the expansion of economic ties.</font> <p><font size="3">Pinda's delegation comprised ministers, regional commissioners, members of parliament, executives from private sector institutions, officials from the Tanzania Investment Center and other senior government officials and businesspeople.</font> <p><font size="3">"Chinese people will continue to provide assistance to Tanzania as capacity allows. Also we hope the Tanzanian side will provide the necessary support for the Chinese enterprises involved in development there," Li told Pinda.</font> <p><font size="3">Noting that next year China and Tanzania will mark the 50th anniversary of their diplomatic ties, Li said China is to cooperate with Tanzania on major projects.</font> <p><font size="3">According to Pinda, his government is also in talks with China Merchant Holdings International about the construction of Bagamoyo Port, which will turn Tanzania into an international trade hub for East and Central Africa.</font> <p><font size="3">"With China and Tanzania about to mark the golden jubilee of their close relations, it is a good time to take our investment partnerships to a higher level," Pinda said.</font> <p><font size="3">He urged his Tanzanian delegates to capitalize on the investment opportunities at the forum, and added that he was keen to hear the views of Chinese investors regarding the Tanzanian business environment.</font> <p><font size="3">Pinda said Tanzania, which is on the east coast of Africa, is a peaceful and politically stable country, and these are critical assets for investors. He also said the Tanzanian government will fully support every investment initiative.</font> <p><font size="3">"Private investments in Tanzania are guaranteed by government policy and law against nationalization and expropriation. Investors can repatriate their profits and dividends without hindrance," Pinda said.</font> <p><font size="3">"I encourage Chinese companies to utilize the opportunities here and turn them into profitable ventures in a way that will bring about sustainable benefits to the Tanzanian economy and the local communities."</font> <p><font size="3">Pinda also urged Tanzanian companies to use their visit to China to gain market knowledge and experience and to develop partnerships with Chinese companies and their international partners, thereby connecting themselves with the global economy.</font> <p><font size="3">Many Chinese companies regard Africa as a prime destination for their overseas investments and trade.</font> <p><font size="3">Xu Zhiming, chairman of Zhejiang-based China Yuemei Group, says his company is enjoying 10 percent annual growth in profits in Africa.</font> <p><font size="3">Xu said his group, a non-government transnational company mainly in the textiles and dye industries, is already planning to set up more companies and joint ventures in Africa.</font> <p><font size="3">Xu is also vice-chairman of the China Africa Business Council, which has more than 500 member companies. The council was established in 2006.</font> <p><font size="3">According to Xu, his group plans to invest about $150 million to restructure the Tanzania-China Friendship Textile Co Ltd to import new technology and equipment to help build it into the largest modern textile company in Africa.</font> <p><font size="3">The company is expected to form a complete industrial chain for cotton purchasing, processing, spinning, weaving and dyeing, Xu said.</font> <p><font size="3">Also, Xu said his group plans to invest about $500 million in the construction of an industrial and trade park in Tanzania, which would serve as a platform for Chinese companies investing in Africa and create more job opportunities and revenue for local Tanzania people.</font> <p><font size="3">Xu said his group, which started investing in Africa in 2000, has now set up 16 companies there, including three in Tanzania, with a total investment of more than $370 million.</font> <p><font size="3">"The investment in Africa accounts for about 30 percent of my group's total assets," he said.</font> <p><font size="3">"Despite the poor technological conditions and low work efficiency, the vast market on the African continent, cheap labor and abundant natural resources are the major attractions for Chinese companies, particularly labor-intensive enterprises," Xu said.</font> <p><font size="3">"And manufacturing, mineral exploitation, finance, machinery, infrastructure, trade, textiles and dyeing are the main industries that attract Chinese companies and investors."</font> <p><font size="3">Xu said the Tanzania-China Business Forum will play an active role in promoting Sino-African investment and trade</font> <p> <p> <p><img title="News Photo: Tanzanian Prime Minister Mizengo Pinda shakes hands with…" style="float: none; margin-left: auto; display: block; margin-right: auto" alt="News Photo: Tanzanian Prime Minister Mizengo Pinda shakes hands with…" src="http://cache4.asset-cache.net/gc/185030231-tanzanian-prime-minister-mizengo-pinda-gettyimages.jpg?v=1&c=IWSAsset&k=2&d=GkZZ8bf5zL1ZiijUmxa7QZm6j2jG9r%2bujvaAZiwnTpztvD3Y6utzl1cycpY2N8Lp" width="445" height="327"> <p align="justify"><font size="2">BEIJING, CHINA - OCTOBER 17: Tanzanian Prime Minister Mizengo Pinda (L) shakes hands with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang before a meeting at the Great Hall of the People on October 17, 2013 in Beijing, China. The two leaders met to discuss China-Tanzania relations. (Photo by Kyodo News - Pool/Getty Images) </font></p> <p align="justify"><font size="2"></font></p> ragamuffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05482861108057630824noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7863439190346561185.post-40280980583646153882013-10-11T06:19:00.001-07:002013-10-11T06:19:49.931-07:00Corruption in Tanzania: President’s men took over, Norwegian aid money disappeared<h3>Corruption in Tanzania: President’s men took over, Norwegian aid money disappeared</h3> <p>By Chris Lang, 16th July 2013 <p><a title="http://www.redd-monitor.org/2013/07/16/corruption-in-tanzania-presidents-men-took-over-norwegian-aid-money-disappeared/" href="http://www.redd-monitor.org/2013/07/16/corruption-in-tanzania-presidents-men-took-over-norwegian-aid-money-disappeared/">http://www.redd-monitor.org/2013/07/16/corruption-in-tanzania-presidents-men-took-over-norwegian-aid-money-disappeared/</a> <p><a></a> <p><a href="http://wp.me/pll98-3H0"><img src="http://www.redd-monitor.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/wcst.png" width="135" height="135"></a> <p>In February 2013, Siri Gedde-Dahl, a journalist with Norway’s Aftenposten newspaper, <a href="http://www.redd-monitor.org/2013/02/06/more-corruption-involving-norwegian-redd-funding-in-tanzania/">investigated corruption</a> in a REDD project in Tanzania funded by Norway. In a recent Aftenposten <a href="http://www.aftenposten.no/nyheter/iriks/-Presidentens-menn-overtok_-norske-bistandspenger-forsvant-7249364.html#.UeP48o1kOKa">article</a>, Gedde-Dahl reports that Wildlife Conservation Society of Tanzania, the Tanzanian NGO that was running the project, has collapsed. <p>In addition to Norwegian funding, the Wildlife Conservation Society of Tanzania received money from the aid budgets of the UK, Finland, Denmark, and the USA. Wildlife Conservation Society of Tanzania was the designated national partner of <a href="http://www.birdlife.org/worldwide/national/tanzania/">Birdlife International</a>. It was also a partner organisation of World Land Trust, which notes on its <a href="http://www.worldlandtrust.org/about/partners/wildlife-conservation-society-tanzania">website</a> that, “WCST has strong links with local and national authorities and boasts the Tanzanian President as one of its patrons.” <p>In September 2012, Wildlife Conservation Society of Tanzania’s links with national authorities were strengthened when Philemon Luhanjo took over as chairman and chief executive officer of WCST. Luhanjo is a close associate of Tanzania’s president Jakaya Kikwete, and was previously secretary general of the Presidential Office and the President’s spokesman. <p>Funnily enough, five years ago, Wildlife Conservation Society of Tanzania was one of the founding members of the “<a href="http://www.iucn.org/about/work/programmes/forest/?742/Tanzania-Mama-Misitu-campaign-to-tackle-corruption">Mama Misitu</a>” campaign aimed at tackling corruption in Tanzania. <p>Here is a rough translation of Siri Gedde-Dahl’s Aftenposten <a href="http://www.redd-monitor.org/2013/02/06/more-corruption-involving-norwegian-redd-funding-in-tanzania/">article</a> (any corrections to the translation are welcome!). <blockquote> <h5>President’s men took over, Norwegian aid money disappeared</h5> <p><b>Norwegian authorities paid US$1.2 million to the Wildlife Conservation Society of Tanzania. Much of this can not be explained. Five countries are now investigating the environmental organisation.</b> <p>Environmental projects to the Wildlife Conservation Society of Tanzania (WCST) have collapsed. The money is gone, the employees have resigned or been dismissed, and WCST is technically bankrupt. The money for the business came from the Norwegian, Finnish, Danish, British and American aid budgets. <p>In September 2012, Philemon L. Luhanjo took over as chairman and chief executive officer of WCST. He has been one of President Jakaya Kikwete closest associates for many years. <p><b>Flow of money stopped</b> <p>Norway gave NOK 25 million for a project to protect the Pugu-Kazimzumbwi forest area outside Dar es Salaam. In 2012, cash flow was halted, after 6.8 million was paid, because accounting and audit reports were not delivered as agreed. In February 2013, Norway stopped all further cooperation with the WCST. <p>The embassy ordered an investigation by the audit firm Baker Tilly & Co. That was available on 24 May and gave clear indications of misuse of money. WCST was given until 13 June to comment on the audit, but has not responded. <p>The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will not disclose the audit report. However, Merja Mäkelä, the Finnish Counsellor, and Torbjørn Eriksen of the Danish Outdoor Council, both point out that the Norwegian report confirms that there are clear indications of financial irregularities in the WCST. The two are involved in other WCST projects, and await their own investigations. <p> <h1 align="center"><font size="3"><img src="http://www.redd-monitor.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/luhejo1.png" width="100" height="100"></font></h1> <h1 align="center"><b><font size="3">Presidential spokesman</font></b></h1> <p>Before Philemon Luhanjo became WCST-chairman, he was secretary general of the Presidential Office and the President’s spokesman. Luhanjo left the government apparatus after a corruption scandal, with strong accusations against him. Officially, he did not leave because of the scandal. <p>Before that, Luhanjo was Secretary of the Tanzanian Ministry of Environment, which was for several years involved in a corruption case with Norwegian aid money. <p>But Luhanjo is not the only one in the WCST to arrive from high up in the state apparatus. Deo-Gratia Gamassa who was general manager of the WCST until he resigned quite recently, previously retired from a department head position in the Ministry that Luhanjo led. <p>Gamassa’s successor, Rawson Yonazi, was also a former employee of the Ministry of Environment under Luhanjo. The majority of the employees in the WCST actually came from medium to higher positions in the central administration. Now, most have left or been dismissed due to the difficulties. <p><b>Artificial civil society</b> <p>NGOs (non-governmental organisations) are used as an alternative to government budget aid. Because NGOs represent civil society, several donor countries dislike that it is “the president’s men” who govern. <p>Merja Mäkelä, Counsellor at the Finnish Embassy in Tanzania, said that the WCST was not dominated by so many former government officials in 2010-2011, when the Finns took the decision to support WCST’s projects. She is not comfortable with the fact that the WCST has been ‘taken over’ by former government officials. <p>“Civil society should represent real blocks of opinion in a population. When civil society is reduced to a privilege, that those in power hand out to loyal supporters, it undermines the very idea of why a civil society is important,” says researcher Asle Toje in the Department of Political Science at the University of Oslo. <p>He notes that a number of researchers have described how Western-funded organisations in developing countries creates a false civil society. <p>“It does not serve the purpose of NGOs: To be a corrective to the authorities.” <p>Toje believes it is difficult for Norway to criticise others because the Norwegian government strongly supports Norwegian NGOs with state money. <p><b>“Not the way it works”</b> <p>Chairman Philemon Luhanjo did not in the first place respond by phone, SMS or email. CEO Rawson Yonazi agreed to receive questions by email, but when he read them, he said he has “no authorisation to comment”. He refers to Luhanjo. After a few days Luhanjo answers the phone from Aftenposten. <p>“I can not comment. I have not seen the email. I’m travelling. I can not say anything because I am still in dialogue with the embassy.” <p>“But the embassy says you have not answered the questions about the audit report?” <p>“No, no. I cannot comment. It’s not the way it works, madam!” Luhanjo says before he breaks off the conversation. <p><b>Ministry of Foreign Affairs: Will demand money back</b> <p>Hans-Jakob Arnestad at the Foreign Ministry says Norway will demand money back for “insufficiently documented expenses”. <p>Norway has allocated NOK 25 million for conservation measures in the forests near Dar-es-Salaam, and paid 6.8 million. Measures for sustainable use of forest and alternative livelihoods for local people had fizzled out into vandalism and nothing. Protection of the forest had unravelled and the forest was partially burnt down. <p><b>The project office, built with Norwegian money was destroyed and is now abandoned.</b> <p>According to Arnestad the door is not closed for a police matter, but Norway will first consult with the Tanzanian authorities to see how the matter can be resolved. <p><b>Doubtful crow project</b> <p>Several of the projects to the WCST collapsed even before the donor countries turned the money tap again. A project to reduce the crow population, supported by the United States, Denmark and Finland, is in default. The Indian House Crow is an alien, unwanted species in Tanzania. With its huge population it creates a major environmental problem. <p>According to a report, field visits to crow traps in May showed that “management had reduced the operation only to be a way to spend money, and not really to try to solve the crow problem.” Finland stopped the flow of money after 800,000 NOK, and the message is clear from the Finnish Counsellor Merja Mäkelä: <p>“WCST is entirely without means, and owes us money. We’re not going to fund them any more.” <p><b>Powerful people</b> <p>The Danish Outdoor Council has transferred 1.2 million Danish kroner to a WCST project on environmental education in schools, which is mainly implemented. But the Danish Outdoor Council opted out of further cooperation. <p>Birdlife International had several large joint projects with WCST. It has also opted out of all further cooperation and asked WCST to account for their spending. <p>Merja Mäkelä says it is rare for Tanzanian authorities to prosecute such cases. Anyway it takes a very long time. <p>“And very powerful people sit in the WCST,” she reminds us. <p><b>The link to the president no problem for embassy</b> <p>“There is nothing negative in former top people from environmental authorities managing organisations or being on the boards and doing volunteer work,” Inger Naess, Counsellor at the Norwegian Embassy in Tanzania, told Aftenposten in January. <p>She thought it was quite unproblematic that former senior officials from the government, Tanzanian environmental authorities are controlling WCST, and confirmed that the Norwegian embassy knew this right from the start. Naess said that Gamassa has been one of several main contacts for the embassy. <p>“The pension age here is 60, and it is good and natural that resourceful people are contributing. If you have previously worked in the ministry that does not disqualify you from managing an NGO that receives Norwegian aid money,” Naess said. <p>As the suspicion of financial irregularities has been strengthened in recent months, Aftenposten asked again whether the embassy believes the link to the government apparatus is problematic. The embassy had nothing to add.</p></blockquote> ragamuffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05482861108057630824noreply@blogger.com0