Tanzanian law makers on the Energy and Minerals committee have
asked government to upgrade the state-run mineral agency to a
minerals auditing authority in a bid to enhance its mandate and
effectiveness, a lawmaker said over the weekend.
According to William Shellukindo, chairman of the parliamentary
committee on Energy and Minerals, lawmakers have recommended that
the Tanzania Minerals Audit Agency be upgraded and renamed the
Tanzania Minerals Auditing Authority in order to enhance its
capacity and mandate to carry out its activities.
"In its current state, the audit agency is conflicting with
Tanzania Revenue Authority over the auditing of the mining sector,"
and upgrading the agency would put an end to this, he said.
The Tanzania Minerals Audit Agency was established in 2009 to
replace the Tanzania Audit Program under the ministry of Energy and
Minerals Development. The agency is charged with assessing the
quality and quantity of minerals produced and exported as well as
monitoring and auditing of mining activities and environmental
issues. By upgrading it to an authority, the agency would become
autonomous; currently it is under the Energy and Minerals
ministry.
Tanzania's mining sector is dominated by gold and the country is
Africa's fourth largest gold producer after Mali, Ghana and South
Africa.
Minerals auditing in Tanzania has in the past been marred by
allegations of corruption and a lack of transparency. In 2007, two
government treasury officials and two former ministers were
arrested and charged with fraud and corruption over illegal
dealings in mineral auditing. Their trail is still underway in the
Dar-Es Salaam-based Magistrates' court.
Government officials say that since the establishment of the
audit agency, the Tanzanian government saved at least 13 billion
Tanzanian shillings ($8.64 million) last year because the agency
spends less money on auditing compared with previous private
auditors.
Gold miners operating in Tanzania include London-listed Africa
Barrick Gold (ABG.LN), South Africa-based Anglogold Ashanti
Ltd.(AU) and Australia-based Resolute Ltd.(RES.AU).
-By Nicholas Bariyo, contributing to Dow Jones Newswires;
256-75-2624615 bariyonic@yahoo.co.uk