Tanzania’s Anti-Corruption Court Starts Operations

The eagerly anticipated Economic, Corruption and Organised Crime Court finally sat for the first time on Thursday in Dar es Salaam for a bail application hearing which was lodged by three people who have been charged with economic sabotage. The accused were charged with numerous counts, including the storage of over Sh15 billion worth of monofilament nets. The anti-corruption court’s judge, Rehema Kiwanga Mkuye, set the date for the ruling of the case, which involves a Chinese woman, an Indian national and a citizen of Tanzania, as November 14^th 2016. The accused are alleged to be guilty of importing 499 bags containing monofilament nets (which are banned from importation and use in Tanzania) to the value of Sh7,485,000,000 into the country from Shanghai, China, having been found in possession of these items in the Kurasini Shimo la Udongo area on October 4^th. All three of the accused have also been alleged to have been storing 187 monofilament pieces in 325 bags with a value of Sh 15,193, 750,000, and to also have been in illegal possession of 200 pieces of fishing gillnets with a net size of under 3 inches, with a value of Sh300,000,000.