Magufuli asks Uhuru to ‘give him’ Monica Juma

Kenya returned 35.3kgs of gold worth over Sh100million to Tanzania on Wednesday.

The consignment was received by Tanzania President John Magufuli who lauded Kenya’s efforts in fighting illegal trade.

The delegation from Kenya comprised of Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Monica Juma, Director of Public Prosecutions Noordin Haji, Attorney General Paul Kihara, Director of Criminal Investigations George Kinoti and the director of Asset Recovery Agency.

Magufuli singled out Juma for special praise and even called President Uhuru Kenyatta on loud speaker, much to the delight of those who were in attendance.

During the phone call, Magufuli commended Uhuru for putting the needs of Kenyans first, joking that had the two been greedy, they would have divided the gold between themselves.

Further, the Tanzanian President said Juma is a proper CS who looks good and delivers. Upon asking Uhuru to let Tanzania have Juma, albeit on light note, Uhuru refused saying he would offer him someone else but not the Foreign Affairs CS.

The officials also handed over Sh15 million that was recovered from a suspect who was arrested with the gold at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in February 2018.

The money and the gold were stolen on May 21, 2004 from Tanzania’s NBC bank in Moshi, in denominations of US Dollars, Kenyan shillings and Tanzanian shillings.

A total of $77,500, Sh171,600,000 and Tsh170,000,000 was stolen from the bank, as staffers were locked up in a safe.

A prime suspect Patrick Ayisi Ngoi was arrested in Kenya with the wealth, and was repatriated to Tanzania for prosecution in January this year, officials said.

Juma said the visit followed a meeting between the two presidents.

“We are here to fulfill deliberations between you and President Kenyatta. If we work together, we succeed. If we work together, we get a chance to expand our economy, peace and living a better life,” said the CS.