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Rostam Aziz given chance to respond to allegations
2008-02-16 09:23:21
By Guardian Reporter, Dodoma
The Speaker of the National Assembly, Samuel Sitta has said that he will ask the Igunga MP, Rostam Aziz, who was accused by the House select committee of refusing to testify when summoned, to respond to the allegations in the next sitting.
Rostam Aziz has been implicated in the Richmond scam during the just-ended House session as one of the key players.
Speaking before the winding up of the House session by Prime Minister Mizengo Pinda, the Speaker informed the House that he had received a letter from Rostam Aziz complaining that he was not fairly treated by the select committee when collecting evidence with regard to the ownership of Richmond Development Company, LLC.
``Since Rostam is not in the House today I will ask him to clarify his claims in the next session that he was not given a chance to plead his case,`` said Sitta.
In his presentation, the select committee chairman, Harrison Mwakyembe said a summons was delivered to Rostam Aziz`s Oyterbay home in Dar es Salaam on December 24, last year by an official from the Parliament office.
In his letter, he claimed that the summons was delivered to him on a day that he could not be easily available in Dar es Salaam.
One of Rostam`s relatives apparently received the summons on his behalf saying that Rostam was out of the country.
The committee had requested him to appear before the committee on December 27, 2007, but didn’t turn up.
Parliament had been told that Rostam Aziz had arrogantly refused to appear before the select committee and that he should be penalized.
Several MPs who spoke on Thursday directly linked Rostam Aziz with Richmond as the proprietor of the controversial firm.
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