Brela, PCCB sign deal to speed up fraud investigations

Dar es Saalaam. The Business Registration and Licencing Agency (Brela) and the Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau (PCCB) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that is geared towards expediting the latter’s investigative tasks.

The MoU will see the two government institutions exchange information so as to speed up fraud investigations involving private firms. The MoU will facilitate and speed up various investigative procedures without affecting the jurisdiction and operational boundaries between the two institutions, the heads of the two institutions said in Dar es Salaam yesterday.

Brela chief executive officer, Mr Godfrey Nyaisa, said the agreement aims at ensuring that the anti-graft body gets accurate and timely information to undertake its investigative tasks.

This, he said, was borne out of the fact that Brela currently receives at least six letters each day from PCCB, enquiring about registration information for various companies.

“We have also been receiving various calls that require our officials to be interviewed by the PCCB officers as well as attend court sessions as witnesses on the information provided to the anti-corruption body’s prosecutors that was drawn from our records,” he said.

PCCB director general, Mr Salum Hamduni, said the purpose of the agreement was to exchange investigative information between the institutions to help the anti-corruption body obtain evidence that could enable it to bring suspects to court.

This will also go together with strengthening the training system and procedures for Brela employees regarding the concept of corruption, its effects, and how they [the employees] can cooperate in conducting research and evaluation of operational systems.

“The government is determined to fight corruption by all possible means. Realising that this struggle cannot be successful without the participation of stakeholders, we have been involving them in different ways, including entering into cooperation agreements with them,” said Hamduni.

He has said that the PCCB will consider the MoU as one of the most important tools in achieving the dream of creating a ‘Tanzania without corruption.’

Members of the business community are, however, somewhat cynical, as they hope that the existing scenario could still enable PCCB to effectively conduct its investigations on companies, with Brela providing all the necessary support.

The national chairman of the Business Community Association, Mr Hamis Livembe, said that as much as the MoU may have well-intentioned goals of facilitating investigations, it is important to ensure that its operationalization is successful.

“If they want the cases to go at the speed that they want, PCCB will always have to cooperate with Brela. The latter must look for the evidence that the former needs to effectively prosecute the suspects,” said Livembe.