Attempt to Defraud Tanzanian Government Fails

Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan has called for the resignations of the individuals involved in the fraudulent and malfeasant $49-million inflation of the price of Air Tanzania’s first Boeing 767-300F.  

Air Tanzania—the Southeast African nation’s flag carrier and an entity wholly owned by the Tanzanian government—is slated to take delivery of its inaugural 767-300F freighter in May 2023. According to the country’s Controller and Auditor General’s (CAG) 2021/2022 report, the final installment the Tanzanian government was scheduled to pay Boeing for the 767 freighter was to have been in the amount of $37-million. The government was presented, instead, with an invoice for $86-million.

Recognizing the bald-faced attempt to defraud, President Hassan swiftly determined the contrived price-hike had originated within her own government and lashed out at those involved in the conspiracy, stating: "Where did this invoice come from? What did the contract say? And when you received the invoice, you still presented it to the government for payment. Stupid, what step did you take after you received the invoice? When you look at it critically, you will notice that the price hike is something that started internally." 

The president set sternly forth that she will not tolerate such conduct, adding that Tanzania could and would not be run corruptly. President Hassan stopped short of identifying the individuals party to the fraud, but ordered the entirety of the conspirators to step immediately down from their positions.

The 2021/2022 report by Tanzanian Controller and Auditor General Charles Kichere indicated, also, that Air Tanzania Company Limited (ATCL), during the report’s target period, had incurred losses of $1.5-billion—25-percent of which Mr. Kichere’s investigators attributed to flight delays. According to subject report, ATCL's strategy was to reach a mission-ready and on-time average of 92-percent. That the air-carrier failed in said respects is self-evident. Mr. Kichere recommended the airline focus on improving efficiency and revenue collection. Air Tanzania was one of 42 Tanzanian-government-owned entities to record losses in 2021 and 2022. 

Upon its delivery, Air Tanzania’s 767-300F will become the first aircraft of its kind to be registered and operated in Africa. In March 2023, plane-spotters in the vicinity of Western Washington State’s Paine Field (PAE) were thrilled to look on as the Africa-bound aircraft conducted flight-tests on and around the airport.

Air Tanzania was to have taken delivery of its inaugural 767-300F by 31 March 2023. The current May delivery date has been ascribed to supplier issues. Boeing acknowledged, however, that 767 freighter deliveries have also been hampered by "quality issues." 

The new freighter will be based at Kilimanjaro Airport (JRO), which the Tanzanian government hopes to build into a major cargo hub through which to increase overall air-cargo volumes and significantly boost trade with neighboring African nations.

FMI: www.airtanzania.co.tz