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Tanzania: Mgonja, Ndulu Differ On Tangold Ownership
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The Citizen (Dar es Salaam)
8 May 2008
Posted to the web 8 May 2008
Richard Mgamba And Mkinga Mkinga
Confusion on who were the real owners of Tangold - the predecessor of the defunct Meremeta Gold - yesterday took another twist after two senior government officials gave contradicting statements.
Whereas Treasury permanent secretary Gray Mgonja assured The Citizen that he had acted as a signatory to the firm's bank account on behalf of the Government, Bank of Tanzania governor Prof Benno Ndulu said he had no clue as to who where the company's real owners.
The contradiction started after The Citizen asked Mr Mgonja to state who owned the shadowy company.
"Just contact the Bank of Tanzania they are the ones who know exactly who owns this company," he replied.
But reached for comment, Prof Ndulu said:
"Tangold is not part of BoT projects and please don't associate the central bank with that company.
"People might say that we know Tangold because former governor Dr Daudi Ballali was one of its directors, but this bank now is under new management."
Prof Ndulu told The Citizen over the phone that he was also told that Tangold was owned by the Government, but added that there was neither proof nor adequate information.
BoT is reported to have paid Sh155 billion to Meremeta gold which collapsed soon after.
The cash was paid through a South African bank.
Tangold is said to have taken over all business and debts of Meremeta.
The ownership has been an issue of great concern with parliamentarians questioning why the company was paid so much money for purposes that are still unclear.
In an interview with The Citizen in Dar es Salaam yesterday, Mr Mgonja said:
"I believe that Tangold is a government-owned firm and I was one of its directors."
Mr Mgonja's remarks come amid reports that the presidential select committee tasked with reviewing mining contracts had failed to establish who are the real owners of Tangold as well as the defunct Meremeta.
"May be there's something fishy that I don't know about this company.
But as far as I am concerned, it is owned a hundred per cent by the Government," Mr Mgonja insisted.
Registered in Mauritius
According to reports made available to this newspaper, Tangold was registered in Mauritius in 2005 as an offshore company.
This is despite the former minister for Energy and Minerals, Mr Nazir Karamagi, telling Parliament last August that the firm was fully owned by the Government.
Independent sources suggest that Tangold was registered on April 8, 2005 as an offshore company in Mauritius with a registration No. C 205006121.
Ten months after it was registered, it was subsequently incorporated as a branch of a foreign company at Business Registration and Licensing Authority (Brela). It was given a certificate of compliance No. 55661 of February 20, 2006.
A few months after the defunct Meremeta was dubiously paid billions of shillings, Tangold was also paid by BoT a total of $13.7 million (Sh17 billion) through a bank in Dar es Salaam.
However, the company also failed to operate the Buhemba Gold mine.
Tangold claimed that it wasn't able to operate Buhemba Gold mine, advising that another company with expertise in large-scale mining takes over.
Tangold management entered into a contract with a South African based Time Mining company to operate the mine.
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One of the key conditions was that Time Mining would mine, process and export gold.
Thereafter it would report to the BoT governor about the total ounces of gold produced and sold abroad.
But, after mining gold for about one year, Time Mining closed down its business last year, citing low deposit at the mine.
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