{UAH} Allan/Pojim/WBK: Tax scam: Kikwete defends family - News | The Citizen
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Tax scam: Kikwete defends family - News
Chalinze. Former President Jakaya Kikwete has dismissed allegations that he sanctioned the removal of containers from the Dar es Salaam Port before pre-requisite duties for them had been paid.
In his first public reaction to the allegations, the former president said yesterday he was not "losing sleep" over the matter.
"I am surprised by rumours that I ordered the exemption of taxes on the containers. I never did anything like that," he said in Chalinze, Coast Region, where he took part in the clean-up exercise. Dr Kikwete also defended his family saying there was no grain of truth in stories linking them with the businessmen, who own the containers.
The government is said to have lost about Sh80 billion in unpaid tax in the scam.
A crackdown at the Tanzania Ports Authority (TPA) and Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA) has opened a can of worms, exposing underhand dealings involving senior officials.
President Magufuli recently sacked TPA director general Awadh Masawe and dissolved the authority's board.
First to go was TRA commissioner general Rished Bade whose administration is being accused of tax management irregularities that occasioned the losses.
Seven TRA officials are standing trial over the matter.
And at least 25 TPA employees have been suspended pending investigations into how 2,700 containers were removed from the port without the owners paying taxes.
Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa has made two impromptu visits to the port where he unearthed the scam.
Soon after the names of companies involved in the tax evasion scandal were released, rumours have spread in some newspapers and on social media linking the former president and his family with the firms.
Some of the businessmen were said to have been enjoying the patronage of the former first family.
But Dr Kikwete accused those spreading the rumours of mudslinging.
He said: "There are claims that my family was involved (in the scam). I was the one in power, and I never issued any order to allow people who were supposed to pay tax to not do so."
He added that his son or my wife could not have done so too.
The former president said when he assumed power, revenue collection stood at Sh177 billion a month and at the end of his administration it had hit an average of Sh900 billion.
"This proves that we did a great job. But despite these efforts it is surprising that people continue to hound me," he said.
Dr Kikwete appealed for unity of purpose in the fight to address tax evasion.
"We must support President Magufuli in dealing with tax evasion. It's the only way we can build our nation, not through rumours," he said.
Plugging all revenue leakages is necessary to improve revenue collection, he said.
He supported the crackdown on TRA and TPA saying without diligence and honesty the government would not improve revenue collection.
But he warned the exercise to remove dishonest workers from government would not be a walk through the park.
Meanwhile, the former president has urged Tanzanians to continue with the clean-up exercise to get rid of cholera.
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