THE Lawyers' Environmental Action Team (LEAT) has received with no surprise a Special Report of Committee of the President Dr. John Pombe Magufuli designed to detect the level of various minerals in sand in the containers.
They said what the committee has found; it is exactly what LEAT discovered and shouted loudly but was received with great irony by the third and the fourth phase governments.
Also mining company led by Acacia that for a long time known by the name of (Barrick Gold), opposed and named them as activists who have a hidden agenda against investors.
In the statement signed in Dar es Salaam recently by LEAT CEO Dk. Rugemeleza Nshala, said it is committed to partnership with its expertise in mining issues, including cheating done by these companies who are stealing natural resources in developing countries.
The statement said that LEAT is ready to help the government when these efforts of opposing and even lead to prosecution in the courts of arbitration of contract disputes, LEAT will be able to find lawyers from abroad to fight these companies.
“We know those Lawyers and we can find them in colleges and universities in the world able to defend our country. What we urge the government is that to follow all the legal steps to break contracts because we have our experience in the case of 'City Water' you warned us to carefully follow all procedures to break or terminate contracts, "said part of the statement.
Besides being the organization (LEAT) recognized by the government that has extensive expertise in the regulation of mining and oil but there are government officials who have ensured that they are not given even a chance to comment.
LEAT would like to say the worst, is to see government leaders and officials do not see the importance of ensuring that our country is great and becomes the first beneficiary of the mining, oil and gas.
They ever convinced that the current system of legal and institutional framework is a good system which will benefit us at the end of the day! The system does this that allows these companies engage in deceptive pricing "transfer pricing" and have a balance (debt-equity ratio), the evil system of inspection of metals (assaying), and corrupt system to negotiate mining contracts (mineral development agreements (MDAs)) including contracts for participation in oil and gas production (production sharing agreements (PSAs).
In that period, from 2001, LEAT said it was clear that Tanzania gave its minerals free, and the worst is paying for carriers (not "investors" since it cannot be invested in mining) taking our minerals.
Our country is paying these carriers through tax exemptions, investment incentives, and the restoration of the value added tax.
The Judge Bomani Commission clearly showed that our country robbed, the result was the enactment of the law weakened the Mining Act of 2010.
It is a fact that the whole system we have with the mining laws in all the countries of the sub Saharan Africa is due to Strategic Minerals Africa 1992 (Africa Mining Strategy clamoring for governments all African countries to privatize sectors of mining, and providing incentives and investment incentives for the private company.
African countries were urged to focus on collecting taxes and enact policies and laws of the industry.
But they were supposed to have patience for "investment" because it will take a long time to profit.
In addition, this strategy was called on not to build processing and smelting plants but to allow these companies to deploy crude mineral-sands in their processing and smelting plants abroad.
So, in 1960s and 70s Jamaica and Zambia did not agree to allow these companies to deploy crude mineral-sands in their processing and smelting plants abroad.
In Tanzania we were told that our mineral sands cannot be processed and smelted as it has small amount of minerals and that our electricity is unreliable. Enactment of the Mining Act of 1998 followed a 17 visit of experts of the World Bank from 1994 to 1997.
The 2010 Act does not make any difference to that of 1998 except for the introduction of the Advisory Board to the Minister of Mines to replace the Advisory.
Therefore our countries loaned 56 million dollars to enact another law that has developed exploited.
LEAT says what the Special Committee formed President Magufuli discovered, are very small particles of truth, Tanzania has invited these mining companies and its minerals are taken free. What's worse is that Tanzania, which is the sole producer of Tanzanite, do not profit from these minerals.
It is for this reason LEAT requires the President and his government to do the following:
1. Ordered to stop and renegotiating all contracts of mining, gas and oil as discussed by executives who do not know or do not care about the value of these metals and has attached very bad for our country.
2. Establishment of effective Law Department in the government who are responsible for the gas, petroleum and minerals. These lawyers trained all the principles of contract law, investment and negotiation of contracts, mining, oil and gas.
In Tanzania, there is not a university which teaches negotiation (Negotiation). These are lawyers who have expertise to the discussion is that we depend on them to participate in the negotiation of contracts or giving advice-guiding government on contracts and investment disputes.
Their counterparts in western countries have received this training. Universities like Harvard, Columbia, Yale, Berkeley, Georgetown US provides this training to their lawyers with whom they discuss with our lawyers who have limited understanding of these issues.
3. The government should develop a specialization Committee of Experts to review all mining contracts and see its weaknesses. Professionals who make up this committee out inside and outside the government to replicate the form of the Policy Committee of the Botswana Mining (Mining Policy Committee) to be people who love and trust is not doubted for our country. This committee is discussing whether all mining contracts.
This committee should be formed by economists, experts in investment, tax, mining, environmentalists, and lawyers led by Secretary of the Ministry of Mining and Finance. This committee should be permanent as that of Botswana and be eligible to seek professional advice including involving experts from within and outside the country.
4. Mining Act of 2010 with its change in 2015 be reviewed as it is justified usurpation of the mining law of our country. It is a law that was passed by the pressure of the World Bank and these exploitative companies and was intended to reduce the complaints of activists and institutions such LEAT that had been plundered say that our minerals.
Review of this legislation should include all institutions and stakeholders in our country and written by Tanzanians. Government reject the "support" any of the bush to the writing of this bill from the World Bank or the imperial states for their agenda in this sector is that foreign companies are drilling and have the right to benefit from the minerals.
5. Mining and the Tanzanite smelting includes the manufacture of final products of these metals must be carried out in Tanzania. Company like Tiffany is told to establish manufacturing facilities and decorative stones in Tanzanite exposure. So our country is whether Tanzanite goods store and not the US as it is now.
6. Government claim all mining company performing its activities in pay arrears of tax and mining royalty and happens to mention in their reports began mining in the country. These companies then fail to delete their licenses immediately.
7. Government to delete mining licenses for all mining companies that have engaged in this fraud. This elimination of discriminatory suspicious government undertake a study of all mineral containers from all mining companies in order to determine the extent of their deception.
8. Government to delete all cheaper "investment" mining contained in the Law Reform Act Various Finance Number 27 Year 1997 Sales Act 1976 as amended and many others. These rules were used plunder our minerals in our country.
9. Government review it renewed oil law, capable of oil revenues and the Commission for Transparency in the oil industry in 2015, which were adopted by the Parliament of 9 without a quorum present (quorum) in July 2015.
10. Tax Act is amended to make provision for effective prevention of deceptive pricing. All company be allowed mining, oil and gas should mention them all their subsidiary companies.
The penalties for participation in the fraud of the price is the cancellation of mining licenses and paid at the rate of four times the revenue generated from these minerals.
11. The government should be involved in mining through its subsidiaries and contain all the shares in the parent company which undermine minerals. The government of Botswana to imitate the example of the discontent and have a stake in a joint venture between it and De Beers (Debswana), but have 15 percent in the company of De Beers itself. , Allowing having correct information on income De Beers and being able to claim tax eligible.
12. All disputes relating to mining between the government and foreign mining companies settled by our courts and tribunals are not like those of the International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), International Chamber for Commerce (ICC) and London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA), since these are tribunals established to protect the interests of foreign companies and not in our country.
Judges of this conflict comes from advocates of Western countries who demanded money to decide disputes this. Our country sees to the all-powerful Rules of Ownership Eternal Natural Resources him which is Resolution 1803 of 1962 of the United Nations Resolution 3281 of 1974 of the United Nations on the Right and Responsibility of Economic Nations.
All this comprehensively without any doubt on the authority of the country to set the system to remove the exploitation of natural resources and to decide disputes over natural resources, including minerals, gas and oil.
13. Tanzania should submit in Arbitration Agreements International Disputes beginning with that of ICSID as opposed to Resolutions Number 1803 Year 1962 Year 3281 Number 1974.
Our country must fight for, protect, and defend his eternal ownership of its resources. Moreover claimed discussed all deals bilateral investment and all the nations of the (bilateral investment treaties), which confer the right to a company or a citizen of the Parties to contracts to litigate in the courts of arbitration of international disputes as ICSID, ICC and LCIA.
14. The Constitution of our country could be made adjustments to articulate that Tanzania is eternal owner of all its natural resources and that any extraction must take place amidst the clear assurance that Tanzania is expected to benefit first and extraction.
