Missing Billions in Ewura Official Death Mystery

Details have emerged on the missing billions of shillings that are being linked to the death, on Saturday night, of a top Energy and Water Regulatory Authority (Ewura) official.

Impeccable sources in Dodoma confided in The Citizen that Ewura and Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA) officials clashed over some Sh83 billion in unexplained expenditure of petroleum tax.

The fund was levy of Sh50 per litre of fuel meant for the Rural Energy Agency (REA) during the just-ending financial year, and which was the subject of queries by the Parliamentary Budget Committee.

According to our sources within the Nationally Assembly, the committee led by Bariadi West MP Andrew Chenge questioned the whereabouts of Sh83 billion that was not remitted to REA by TRA as required by law.

It was revealed that while REA should have received Sh100 billion in petroleum levy, it only got Sh17 billion.

The difference reportedly led to a standoff between TRA and Ewura officials who were ordered by the House team to retreat, consult and then come back with the true figures of the petroleum tax account.

Ewura officials, The Citizen were told, have stood their ground on their figures of imported petroleum, a stance that apparently left TRA with questions to answer regarding where and how the missing billions were spent without the approval of Parliament. The Sh17 billion sent to REA would mean tax was levied on only 340,000 cubic metres of fuel yet the Parliamentary committee suggests nearly 2 million cubic metres of fuel should have been the correct figure of fuel imported and taxed. Information on Ewura website indicates Tanzania consumes between 1.5 million to slightly over 2.0 million cubic metres of fuel every year.

The standoff in Dodoma could now be the subject of the police investigation into the sudden death of Mr Julius Gashaza who was Ewura’s director of petroleum. He was found dead on Sunday morning in his hotel room in Dar Salaam, just hours after expressing fear for his life.

Mr Gashaza led the Ewura team that met Mr Chenge’s committee and returned to Dar es Salaam on Saturday night, before checking into the hotel, not very far from where he lived in Yombo Vituka suburb.

His shocked family and relative said the deceased chose to sleep in the hotel and not in the comfort of his home for fear of unnamed persons who were allegedly after him.

Police will now try to unravel circumstances surrounding his death, with the Temeke Regional Police Commander Engbert Kiondo saying they were not ruling out anything as yet. Earlier police reports said Mr Gashaza hanged himself in the bathroom using a necktie.

The police chief said his boys were in the middle of investigations, which also entails waiting for a post-mortem report to establish the exact cause of the death. He said they are investigating if he had any conflict at his workplace or within his family.

“There are many questions that need answers...”

The police boss noted that investigations would check if he had committed suicide or he was strangled, with the killers trying to make it look like it were a suicide case.

Meanwhile at his residence, shock was still evident among his relatives who sat in groups, talking in low tones.