DAR ES-SALAAM (AFP) — Tanzania's president dissolved the cabinet Thursday after accepting the resignation of his prime minister and two cabinet ministers over a corruption scandal.
Prime Minister Edward Lowassa told parliament he felt forced to step aside after his credibility was tarnished by a report into a deal signed between the government and the Texas-based firm Richmond for emergency power supply.
"Because I have been linked to this scandal, I have decided to write to the president asking to be relieved of my duties," the premier told lawmakers, during a session of the Dodoma-based parliament broadcast live on television.
Energy Minister Nazir Karamagi and Minister for East African Cooperation Ibrahim Msabaha, who held the energy portfolio until October 2006, also tendered their resignation.
"I'm taking collective responsibility as a cabinet minister," Karamagi told parliament.
Msabaha said "some of the problems were caused by my subordinates, and I'm also taking responsibility for their acts, which have tarnished the image of the government."
The office of President Jakaya Kikwete later announced he had accepted the resignations and "dissolved his cabinet".
According to a probe into the energy contract, the prime minister as well as two other government ministers and several other officials allegedly meddled in the tender to favour the US company.
The emergency power supply deal aims at providing electricity to the east African nation in case of drought.
According to the report, the deal contravened laws and rules on procurement and costs the country 140,000 dollars a day.
Lowassa stopped short of admitting any wrongdoing and complained that the parliamentary panel that conducted the investigation had failed to question him.
"The whole process was unjust to me," he said, adding nevertheless that the allegations were serious and forced him to step aside. "The report has tarnished my credibility."
According to Tanzania's political mechanisms, if Lowassa's resignation is accepted, the government will have to be dissolved.
The unprecedented political upheaval comes a week ahead of an expected visit by US President George W. Bush.
The longest leg of Bush's continental tour is set to be in Tanzania, in what officials had described as a seal of approval for the developing nation.
Kikwete, who last week took over the rotating presidency of the African Union, is generally perceived as taking a tough stance against corruption.
In January, Kikwete sacked the central bank governor, Daudi Ballali, after an audit exposed fraudulent transactions involving the repayment of external debts.
Lowassa took the premiership in December 2005.
Donor money accounts for almost half of the budget of Tanzania, which is increasingly attempting to attract foreign investors and targets 7.8 percent of economic growth for 2008.
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