During a visit by Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg to Tanzania, President Kikwete said his government was devising mechanisms to help guarantee smoother operations in Tanzania’s mining sector.

Norway had previously threatened to withdraw shares amounting to $5 billion citing corruption and tax evasion by some mining companies. Kikwete made an impassioned appeal to the government and people of Norway not to withdraw their shares from the sector. He said his government had already acted on the matter by setting up a committee that was expected to come up with a package of measures to make Tanzania`s mining industry operate more efficiently and productively. “We are trying to clear the mess in our mining industry; everything will soon be sorted out,” he stated.

In late April the leader of the opposition in parliament, Hamad Rashid (CUF), accused the Controller and Auditor General of deliberately omitting from his latest report the audited accounts of dubious mining projects. This was a serious omission he said. The report was presented by the chairmen of the House’s Public Accounts and Local Government Authorities’ Accounts Committees, John Cheyo (UDP) and Wilbroad Slaa (CHADEMA) respectively.