Parliament on November 10 rejected a proposal by CHADEMA’s Kigoma MP Zitto Kabwe to form a select committee to probe some $196 million allegedly lodged in Swiss banks by 13 public officials. Instead it resolved that the matter be handled by government organs in collaboration with international investigators. Speaker Anne Makinda said the report on the outcome of the investigations should be tabled in Parliament in April 2013. Dismissing Zitto’s proposal, she said it should have been tabled separately as a private motion. This provoked a heated two-day debate in the House in November on what should be done to recover the money, with most MPs supporting Kabwe. Prime Minister Mizengo Pinda said the matter was sensitive and needed handling with care, but he assured the public that no stone would be left unturned in attempting to expose the culprits. This was a matter of national interest and nobody would be spared or protected.

Kabwe said he had no qualms with the decision, since the motion was after all adopted by the House and he would raise the matter again at the next sitting in April if no progress had been made.