DAR ES SALAAM, June 19 (Xinhua) -- Tanzanian authorities on Wednesday reaffirmed its commitment in the fight against corruption, saying there will be no mercy for people involved in malpractices, including senior government officials.
"The fight against corruption will continue to be fought with full force and without favor or fear," said George Mkuchika, the Minister of State in the President's Office responsible for Good Governance and Public Service Management.
Opening a workshop on the fight against corruption in Africa, Mkuchika said the fight against corruption pioneered by the government of Tanzania was not only targeting "small fish" as thought by many people.
"There are senior officials including cabinet ministers who have served jail terms after they were convicted of taking bribe or embezzlement of public funds," he told the workshop in Dodoma.
The minister said the establishment of a special court for prosecuting corruption and economic sabotage cases by the administration of President John Magufuli was a testimony of the government's determination to end the social cancer.
"We have started to make achievements in the fight against corruption and we will never give in although the task ahead is still enormous," said the official.
On Tuesday, the east African nation's anti-corruption watchdog launched a manhunt for four businessmen who allegedly disappeared with a 20-million-U.S.-dollar government loan which they borrowed in order to establish a cement factory.
John Mbungo, the Deputy Director General of the Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau, said the four Tanzanian businessmen have since gone into hiding.
They borrowed the money from the Tanzania Investment Bank (TIB) in 2011 for the establishment of a cement factory in Lindi region in southern Tanzania, said Mbungo.
The businessmen -- Islam Balhabou, Merey Awadh Saleh, Sabri Kuleib and Abdallah Bin Aliya -- are said to be owners of Meis Industries Limited who entered into an agreement with TIB on a government guarantee for the loan to develop the factory.
