Tanzania grants a tender to a company that was denied a job in Pakistan over espionage concerns

The Tanzanian government has been considering extending working with SICPA, a global tracking and tracing company. However, the company has been accused of corruption and unethical actions in the past, leading to lawsuits in Switzerland and Brazil and a ban in Pakistan. SICPA is a Swiss company that specializes in product security and traceability. The company operates in over 200 countries, including Tanzania. SICPA has been around since 1927 and has a long history of working with governments and other organizations to ensure product security.

Despite its long history, SICPA has faced several accusations of corruption and unethical actions. In 2018, the company was sued by the Brazilian government for allegedly bribing officials to secure a contract. In 2019, SICPA was sued in Switzerland for allegedly paying bribes to secure contracts in several African countries. Additionally, the company has been banned in Pakistan after the country’s intelligence, Inter-Services Intelligence, one of the world’s best, discerned espionage suspicion over the company. SICPA, a company transitioned from selling milk and cream, to selling ink for bank notes and printers, is fully owned by Amon’s family, prominent Jewish entrepreneurs with privileged relations with the State of Israel/MOSSAD.

SICPA has been implicated in corruption related to the award of government contracts in Brazil, the Philippines, Togo, Venezuela, Colombia and Ghana. In April 27, 2023, SICPA was convicted of corruption and ordered by the Attorney General of Switzerland (OAG) to pay CHF 81 million ($90.6 million) for corporate criminal liability over the payment of bribes in various countries. The OAG statement reveals that the former SICPA sales manager had made bribes to high ranking officials in the Colombian and Venezuela markets between 2009 and 2011. The company has been the target of several corruption investigations overseas. In the summer of 2021, the company paid CHF 135 million to Brazilian authorities to end its legal problems and to keep doing business there.

With all this, it is quite shocking to see that, despite all dirty deals and unethical practices SICPA has deliberately involved to secure tracing and tracking deals with different countries globally, still a Sub-Saharan country in East Africa, Tanzania, wishes to extend working with the company. SICPA was awarded a tender to supply, install and operate a system for electronic tax stamps in 2017 by the Tanzania Revenue Authority and the system came operational in 2018. All the industries covered by the program (tobacco, wines, spirits,soft drinks and mineral water among others) complained about the cost of the stamps that were to be purchased for each single product manufactured or imported.

It is being estimated that, between 2018 and 2021, SICPA collected almost 100 TZS annually, entirely paid by industries. Members of Parliaments and other prominent leaders in key positions have been questioning some profound questions about why Tanzanian government is adamant to extend its contract with SICPA despite decries from multiple businness and the lopsided contract which gives SICPA an upperhand to benefit more than the government. For instance, reports show that, SICPA collects Tsh 8/- in Tanzania stamping a single juice bottle’s cap while the government collects Tsh 6/-, while in Kenya per same product, SICPA collects Tsh 1/- and below Tsh 1/- in Uganda respectively. Furthermore, it’s being reported that, SIPCA