A mineral expert yesterday told the court that the government ignored his recommendations regarding to the procedure of hiring Alex Stewart gold Assayers Company that resulted the nation to lose billions of money.

Mr Godwin Nyelo, a geologist and acting head of legal and fiscal affairs at the Mineral ministry yesterday told the Kisutu Resident Magistrate Court in Dar es Salaam when he was testifying in Sh 11.7 billion loss facing two former cabinet ministers Basil Mramba and Daniel Yona.

Mr Nyelo who is the first prosecution witness to testify in the case told a panel of three men hears the case led by resident magistrate John Utamwa that as legal and fiscal affairs of the mineral ministry he was among of the four member team that was involved in procedures of finding a company to audit gold production in the country where by the Alex Stewart win the tender.

The witness told the court that there were weakness and as a member of a committee preparing a hiring recommendation advised then mineral minister by then was Mr Daniel Yona not to hire the company.

Mr Nelo told the court that because the company showed of not be transparent in their statements, he recommended the company not to be given the work instead the government to look another possibility of calling a new tender and changing request for proposal.

Meanwhile, he told the court that the discussion with other stake holders showed that there was no hurry of entering with contract by Alex Stewart before looking with procedures done by other countries.

But, the witness told the court that, Mr Yona refused the advice and prepared a draft agreement between the company and the Bank of Tanzania (BoT).

Mr Nelo told that after the signing the contract that was of two years he was assigned to coordinate works done by the company to see if it work as required by the government.

He told the court that in their evaluation they saw that a lot of thing especially in monitoring regulation of mining where there was not any improvement in gold production the country where the situation remained the same as it was before the company starting operates.

The witness told the court that before starting its work Alex Stewart assured them that there will be improvement of 50 percent in gold production in the country.

The two are charged along with Mr Mgonja, the former treasury permanent secretary, with abuse of office that caused the government to suffer Sh 11.7 billion loss.