Dodoma - The saga of the huge consignment of elephant tusks smuggled from Tanzania to Vietnam in March arose in the National Assembly yesterday, with Same East MP Anne Kilango-Malecela vowing to block the tourism ministry's budget unless a parliamentary team is formed to investigate it.

The outspoken Chama Cha Mapinduzi lawmaker demanded the setting up of a special parliamentary committee to look into the matter, saying she had established that the owner of the illicit cargo was a ruling party official.

She put the minister for Natural Resources and Tourism, Ms Shamsa Mwangunga, on notice over the ministry's 2009/10 budget, saying the issue of the smuggled tusks deserved a thorough investigation.

"Mr Speaker, I will not endorse the ministry's budget estimates until I get your directive on the formation of a parliamentary committee to investigate the incident in accordance with Parliamentary Standing Order 117," said Mrs Malecela. The Speaker agreed that the issue be discussed as soon as minister Mwangunga responds to the MPs' concerns.

Mrs Malecela was speaking about the elephant tusks worth nearly $10.5 million (about Sh15 billion) believed to be from Tanzania, and which were seized in Vietnam last March.

According to media reports then, the seven tons of tusks were discovered by Vietnam's Hai Phong Port officials concealed in hundreds of boxes of plastic waste in a container that had originated from Tanzania via Malaysia.

The Vietnamese officials were acting on a tip-off about the smuggling of more than 200 pairs of elephant tusks.

The company, which had ordered the shipment that had been held at the port for days, was identified through the ship waybill but a police follow-up established that its director had fled.

Earlier in Parliament yesterday, Ms Mwangunga had presented her ministry's financial estimates, urging the House to endorse her Sh70.83 billion request for recurrent and development expenditure.

Mrs Malecela said that while the consignment went through Dar es Salaam Port under one consignee, the Vietnamese authorities later established that they were two.

Suspicious Vietnamese authorities then ordered an inspection of what had been been declared to be recycled waste plastic materials and instead found the tusks.

Yesterday, the Same East MP said she had closely followed the matter since it was reported last March, and had even established the consignee's name.

"I have investigated and now know who is it was," she said, but declined to name the CCM cadre allegedly involved in the smuggling ring.

"We do not need leaders who tarnish the good name of our party. I have the file with all the information on the issue. It's astonishing that the ministry has failed to monitor such activities," she said.

Quoting chapter 16 in the Book of Exodus in the Bible, the MP said God gave Tanzanians abundant natural resources "just as he did to the Israelites when he led them from Egypt to Canaan".

However, Mrs Malecela added, the country remained poor, and to blame were the officials who became greedy after being entrusted with managing the wealth on behalf of fellow Tanzanians.

"It's a pity that our President visits various countries in search of investors and aid while a few corrupt fellows are feeding on the resources that could be benefit the nation.

This is not fair," she said. Although Vietnam banned ivory trade in 1992, shops are still allowed to sell items acquired before the ban, creating a loophole, which the smugglers exploit.

An official from Vietnam's Institute of Ecology and Biological Resources, Mr Dang Tat The, confirmed after the seizure of the consignment that the tusks were from African elephants of various ages.

The waybill on the ship at the Hai Phong Port had indicated that the cargo comprised plastic scrap for recycling, but Customs inspectors found that outside the container.

Vietnamese officials described the shipment as "the biggest ivory haul ever in Vietnam." The Vietnamese officials believed the tusks were being shipped to China.
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But in Dar es Salaam, the Director of Criminal Investigations, Mr Robert Manumba, told the media then that police are not aware of the seized tusks haul, believed to be from Tanzania, but promised to counter-check with his Vietnamese counterpart.

Last month, six Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA) officials were arrested on suspicion of involvement in a multi-million dollar organised crime network, which was allegedly behind the smuggling of large numbers of elephant tusks through Dar es Salaam Port.

Sources said the suspects, mainly from the Customs Department, had abetted the smuggling after receiving bribes.

The six were reportedly arrested in connection with the smuggling of the elephant tusks impounded in Vietnam. Tourism minister Mwangunga confirmed the arrest of the Customs officials for allegedly processing the export documents for the illegal consignment.