Hunting Deals 'Cost Nation Dear'

   
The Citizen (Dar es Salaam)
25 April 2008
Damas Kanyabwoya, Dodoma And Levina Kato

Suspect contracts for lease of professional hunting blocks, milk the country a staggering Sh100 billion (about $80 million) annually, Parliament was told yesterday.

This paints a gloomy picture on war against grand graft in a country which with corrupt deals combine to cost the Government about $1 billion (Sh1.25 trillion) each year.

Tabling a private motion in the House on hunting contracts, Kwela legislator Dr Chrissant Mzindakaya also criticized foreign domination of the multibillion shillings industry. He claimed that from professional and tourist hunting alone denies the Government about Sh76.8 billion (about $60 million) from fees paid by hunting companies irrespective of the richness of biodiversity in the hunting blocks.

" Hunting companies that run the sub sector operate as a cartel with close involvement of Wildlife Division senior officials who benefit from the system," asserted the MP. He said foreign domination of the sector denies the country huge income that could otherwise be accrued from broad-based participation of hunting firms. "These foreign hunting companies dictate terms and at times openly threaten honest government officials who stand on their way. He cited threats directed to the current Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism," he said without elaborating on the threats.

Mr Mzindakaya further accused foreign hunting companies of refusing to play by the rules and corrupting officials in the ministry to make excessive profits at the expense of Tanzania's natural resources and biodiversity. He described the hunting firms as looters of the country's natural resources. He said the Government is not getting the foreign currency from professional hunters as it should because the hunting companies remit all funds accrued to their foreign bank accounts.

Mr Mzindakaya said 12 foreign companies own 57 prime hunting blocks with each one controlling about five compared to ten local companies that only own 16 hunting blocks in prime areas. He said inconsistent rules and regulations put by the Government at a disadvantage when dealing with the powerful hunting companies. He said all blocks are charged a fixed fee of $27,000 regardless of their biodiversity, location and infrastructure available. This is wrong because biodiversity based on number and variety of game species available in prime hunting blocks could be 10 or 20 times more valuable than open hunting blocks.

The legislator proposed that blocks in prime hunting areas like in Selous Game Reserve should cost more in terms of fees and must be allocated through open tenders. "When that happens the market value of prime blocks will be higher. He suggested that fee for hunting blocks in Selous should be $400,000 per block annually or $2 million for five years.

Mr Mzindakaya also charged that the hunting sector in Tanzania is operated in big secrecy and totally lacks transparency as no information or data is made available to determine the scale and nature of the blocks and the industry as a whole. "Hunting companies and their managers shun publicity with many vital aspects of the industry shrouded in secrecy," he said. He charged that the Tanzania Hunting Operators Association (Tahoa) is an exclusive club formed to protect vested interests of a minority segment in the hunting industry.

"To a greater extent this association does not provide a forum for Tanzanians to participate fully in the hunting industry. In its reflection, Tanzanians are third class participants in the industry and are thus pushed to the receiving end," he asserted. He advised the Government to enact a new Wildlife Act to replace the outdated Wildlife Conservation Act No.12 of 1974 that gives too much powers to the director of wildlife in all aspects of wildlife management. He added that the Wildlife Policy of 1988 is also outdated and lacks proper management plan.

The MP recently, hunting companies refused to pay the $50,000 per hunting block as proposed by the Government and approved by Parliament last year because they are very powerful than the latter State institutions.

He thus proposed in his motion that the Government revise the hunting fees according to biodiversity available in the blocks, open up the hunting sector by increasing the participation of local hunters and communities to reduce capital flight. Mr Mzindakaya also urged for the stop automatic renewal of hunting licenses and introduce international tendering for hunting blocks.

He said prior to end of current contract in 2009, the Government should ensure that it uses the opportunity to revise the fees and put strict regulations to ensure fair competition in acquiring hunting blocks. Debating the motion the MPs expressed their disappointment on how the Government has failed to protect its sovereignty against powerful individuals in the wildlife sector. "Three years ago when I said Wildlife Division should be cleaned up for its failure to supervise what goes on in the hunting blocks, I was warned that I had touched interests of very powerful people at home and abroad and that this lead to aid cancellation to Tanzania from France," Mr Mgana Msindai (Iramba East-CCM) claimed.

He said this shows that the Government is helpless in the face of some few rich and powerful people in the hunting industry. Ms Aziza Sleyum Ally (Special Seats-CCM), said after the Government proposed the $50,000 fee per block last year, some officials flew to the US where they published lower fees in a book that was had a Government seal.

"I want to know how many Gvernments do we have in this country. We have one that proposes things with Parliament approval and another that invalidates those things and come up with new decisions. Is this how we run this country? Who ordered those officials to publish lower fees," she queried.