Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau (PCCB) Arusha regional chief Juventus Baitu
The Arusha district court has sentenced Loserian Raphael
Laizer, an accountant with the Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority
(NCAA) pastoral council, to 23 years imprisonment for obtaining 4.3
million/- through fraudulent means.
According to the ruling delivered by district magistrate Dimitrio
Nyakunga on Friday last week, Laizer will serve 16 years in gaol for
deceiving his employer (NCAA) and another seven years behind bars for
causing the government such a loss. The two jail terms will run
concurrently.
The prosecution, led by Prevention and Combating of Corruption
Bureau (PCCB) Arusha regional chief Juventus Baitu, told the court that
Laizer, while working for NCAA’s pastoral council, used false documents
to commit the offence which falls under the Economic Sabotage Act.
He is said to have prepared a fake list of students to be sponsored
by the council, a move that saw him fraudulently pocket the money.
“The list was prepared to indicate that the students were paid the
said amount as allowances, when in fact they were not,” prosecutor Baitu
said.
At the same time, the NCAA’s former chief conservationist Bernard
Musomi Murunya is also facing charges of abuse of office before the
Arusha resident magistrate’s court.
Murunya, who is now a member of the East African Legislative
Assembly (EALA) under a ruling CCM party ticket, is alleged to have
caused the authority a loss of $66,000 (133m/-) through his actions.
According to the prosecution led by PCCB officers Monica Kijazi and
Rehema Mteta, on September 9, 2011, in his capacity as NCAA chief
conservationist, Murunya failed to properly discharge and honour his
duties in a deal with Cosmos Travel Agency, resulting in the said
monetary loss.
He was arraigned in court alongside the NCAA’s former tourism manager, Veronica Ufunguo.
