DAR ES SALAAM, Jan. 26 (Xinhua) -- The former Director General of Tanzania Broadcasting Corporation (TBC), Tido Mhando, on Friday appeared in court charged with economic sabotage and abuse of office.

Mhando appeared in the Kisutu Resident Magistrate's Court in the commercial capital Dar es Salaam charged with four counts of abuse of office and one count of occasioning a loss to the government amounting to 400,000 U.S. dollars.

The charges were read out by a prosecutor from the Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau (PCCB) Leonard Swai who was assisted by Aneth Mavika, Pendo Temu and Dismass Muganyizi before Senior Resident Magistrate Upendo Nongwa.

According to the charges, on the first count, Mhando, who is currently deputy chief executive officer of privately owned Azam Media, in June 2008 in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), while discharging his functions as TBC director general, intentionally abused his position by signing a joint venture agreement for operating a television channel between TBC and Chanel 2 Group Cooperation (BVI) without floating a tender.

On the second count, the former TBC chief was charged with intentionally abusing his position by signing an agreement for digital terrestrial broadcasting between TBC and BVI without invitation of tenders, thereby giving undue advantage to BVI.

On the third count, in August 2008 in Dubai, UAE, being an employee of TBC, he abused his position by signing an agreement for the purchase, supply, installation and transmission equipment and broadcasting towers between TBC and BVI without invitation of tenders, thereby causing undue advantage to BVI.

According to the prosecutors, on the fourth count, Mhando intentionally abused his position by signing an agreement for operating DTT broadcasting infrastructure between TBC and BVI without floating any tender.

The accused denied all the charges and was released on bail after fulfilling the set bail conditions.

The accused was ordered to deposit in court half the amount of the alleged loss caused as bond or submit a title deed of unmovable property worth the amount. Another bail condition was to have two sureties.

The court also forbade the accused from travelling outside Dar es Salaam without the court's permission.

Mhando had also worked with the BBC Swahili Service in London in the early 2000s before joining TBC as the top boss. Prior to joining the BBC, he worked with Radio Tanzania Dar es Salaam (RTD) and the Voice of Kenya (VoK) based in Nairobi. Enditem

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