Recently the Government of Tanzania (GoT) concluded a deal to buy a
sophisticated radar air control system from the UK firm BAe Systems worth
US$40 million. The issue only came to light in Tanzania after major
differences of opinion within the British cabinet were leaked to the British
press. To date, both Tanzanian and British governments have failed to
clarify (albeit the attempt by Tanzanian government in the 'Daily News'
yesterday) the military or commercial nature of the equipment, or the
rationale for the large price tag, when adequate equipment for civilian
purposes costs one quarter of the price, and can be obtained through grant
aid.

Given that Tanzania is a highly indebted poor nation which has just
qualified for debt relief under the HIPC initiative, it is very shocking to
learn --from external sources-- that the Tanzanian Government has secretly
committed the nation to an additional $40 million of commercial debt to add
to its existing unsustainable debt stock.

We, Tanzanian civil society organizations (CSOs) note with concern that the
negotiations for the radar system have been going on secretly for a number
of years, and a down-payment made, during which time we and other
like-minded organisations have been campaigning for debt cancellation in
order to improve access to basic services for the majority of Tanzanians.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair is concerned about protecting the jobs of
250 BAe workers in the Isle of Wight, while ignoring the cost of the radar
to Tanzanian citizens, who on average earn US$250 a year. We strongly
condemn the decision by the UK Government to issue a license to BAe for the
radar, an act that is inconsistent with their international aid, debt relief
and sustainable development policies. It is most unfortunate that the
progressive work of Gordon Brown and Clare Short in terms of promoting these
noble objectives should be undermined by such an unwise deal.

It is ironic that the UK gives budgetary support to Tanzania worth US$40
million a year, thus giving vital support for debt relief with one hand and
taking it back with the other.

We Tanzanian CSOs are convinced that the BAe radar is too expensive for
Tanzania to afford, and that we do not have the military capacity to make
good use of the equipment in question, if indeed it is a military system.

The Tanzanian public deserves answers to the following questions:

On whose authority and with what internal scrutiny in the cabinet and
parliament has this deal been negotiated? Have MPs ever had the opportunity
to deliberate on it? Has it been the subject of discussion under the Public
Expenditure Review and other financial policy bodies?
Why was there no tender floated by the Government for such a big
transaction?
Why does the government insist on buying such expensive equipment when
there is a cheaper alternative available under grant aid?
Why is Barclays Bank extending a loan to the GoT at lower than commercial
rates? Have we been informed of the total cost of the deal or just the first
installment of something much more expensive, bearing in mind that when the
radar deal was originally proposed the price tag was more than ~100 million?
How was it possible for BAe to proceed to assemble the radar equipment
without formal government approval?

We are thankful to the Bretton Woods Institutions for showing concern for
the people of Tanzania by opposing the deal. We would like to see the
demands for public interest scrutiny such as the radar extended to all major
investment projects, including those financed by soft loans from the IFIs
themselves.

We urge our government to forthwith suspend the deal to purchase the radar,
pending a full public enquiry into the issues raised above.

We also demand that, in future, any acquisition of multilateral, bilateral
or commercial debt should be made public and involve wide participation of
people, including parliament, where we believe the people's interest should
be protected.

We urge Clare Short, U.K. Minister for Overseas Development, to instruct the
Department for International Development (DfID) to withhold the budgeted $40
million (~28 million) in budget support for the GoT for 2002/03 pending the
results of the public enquiry into the deal.

Lastly, we Tanzanian CSOs urge the governments of Tanzania and the UK and
the donor community in general to take seriously their collective commitment
to open government and pro-poor policies, which will fail miserably if such
murky deals are allowed to proceed unsanctioned.

SIGNED:
TCDD, TANGO, TADREG, PELUM Tanzania, ACTIONAID Tanzania, The Leadership
Forum, National Youth Forum, TGNP, IGODENI and OxfamGB Tanzania.