President John Magufuli is today expected to receive a final report from a team of experts he appointed in March this year to establish the truth about mineral sand exports from the country, amid reports that the government may be being short-changed by the exporting companies in terms of payable taxes.
Magufuli appointed the probe committee after banning all further exports of gold and copper concentrates from mining firms operating in the country for processing abroad, with the bone of contention being the actual amount of real minerals contained in the concentrates (otherwise known as mineral sand).
A press statement issued yesterday by the directorate of presidential communications said the president will receive the report at a live-broadcast event at State House in Dar es Salaam, to be attended by various top government officials.
The mineral sand exports ban has become a burning issue embracing the country’s entire mining industry after one leading gold mine operator, Acacia Mining Plc, announced that up to 30 per cent of its revenue had been put at risk and its global share prices suffered a drastic drop as a result of the ban.
During an impromptu visit to Dar es Salaam’s harbour area on March 23, Magufuli impounded over 250 containers of mineral sand coming from Lake Zone-based gold mines owned by Acacia Mining.
He ordered that the containers, which were all set for shipping out of the country, be denied export permits pending a proper verification of the actual value of their contents.
The probe team he appointed was given the mandate to lead this verification exercise which also covered containers with gold/copper concentrate loads at various inland container depots (ICDs) countrywide.
Their report is therefore expected to either confirm what Acacia and other mining companies have themselves declared as negligible percentages of real minerals in the concentrates, or show that the companies have been under-declaring on their payable taxes.
The team delivering today’s report was composed of Prof Abdulrahman Mruma, Prof Justianian Ikingura, Prof Joseph Bushweshaiga, Dr Yusuf Ngenya, Dr Joseph Yoweza Philip, Dr Ambrose Itika, Mohamed Makongoro, and Henry Gombela.
Magufuli also named a team of law experts to join the probe, and directed the Controller and Auditor General (CAG) to conduct a special audit of the mining industry as a whole and expose any loopholes that might have been causing the government to lose what it should be earning in revenue collection from the industry over the years.
Already the mineral sands containers controversy has resulted in the sacking of at least one senior government official; former energy and minerals ministry permanent secretary Prof Justin Ntalikwa.
While accompanying National Assembly Speaker Job Ndugai on a visit to the Dar port area shortly after the president’s own visit, Ntalikwa appeared to differ with Tanzania Ports Authority (TPA) director general Deusdedit Kakoko on the procedures for assaying the contents of the impounded containers and issuing of export permits for them.Hours later, the PS was summarily dismissed by Magufuli.
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