The very active President of Tanzania, John Magufuli, nicknamed the Bulldozer has shown the country's anti-corruption chief the back door for a most disturbing act.
Dr. Edward Hoseah
The head of Tanzania’s anti-corruption body, Edward Hoseah, has been sacked by President John Magufuli for negligence, the government says in a statement. The president expresses his dissatisfaction at the body’s conduct in fighting corruption in the country, it added. Dr Hoseah, the hitherto head of Tanzania’s Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau (PCCB) was fired Wednesday by the Chief Secretary Ambassador Ombeni Sefue.
Sefue said the President was dissatisfied with Hoseah’s performance. The PCCB Chief is the latest head of a public institution who has been sacked since President Magufuli taking office. The heads of Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA), Tanzania Ports Authority (TPA), Muhimbili National Hospital (MNH) and the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Transport were all fired in similar circumstances. Hoseah’s Deputy Valentino Mlowola who was recently brought into PCCB has been promoted to lead the anti-corruption fight.
Mlowola, is a former Commissioner of Police and was the Director of Criminal Intelligence before his appointment by President Magufuli to the position of the Deputy. Director of PCCB to fill the gap that was left vacant by Lilian Doubts who was appointed the Justice of the Supreme Court. PCCB failed to act accordingly in dealing with corrupt dealings particularly the loss of government revenues at Dar es Salaam Port.
“According to President Magufuli, Dr. Hosea’s speed does not match the speed that the president wants in dealing with corruption,” Sefue added.
Mr Magufuli has also suspended four top officers in the anti-corruption body who travelled abroad despite the government’s recent suspension of all foreign trips for public servants. The officials have been named as Mary Mosha, Doreen Kapwani, Rukia Nikitas and Ekwabi Mujungu. Sefue urged other public officials to take heed to the President’s ban on foreign travels by public officials and warned that whoever goes against the ban, would face both disciplinary and legal action.
Since coming to office in October, Mr Magufuli, who is nicknamed “The Bulldozer”, has announced a range of cost-cutting measures, including a ban on unnecessary foreign travel by government officials. He also replaced the independence celebration with a clean-up campaign. This suspension should send a clear message to other public servants who think the president was bluffing when he announced the ban on foreign trips, the government added.