Barrick subsidiary’s payments to Tanzanian officials triggered concerns over anti-corruption breaches

LONDON, England

Barrick Gold’s ABX-T former subsidiary in Africa was paying as much as US$1.2-million annually to a powerful group of Tanzanian government officials as recently as 2015, triggering internal concerns that the payments were violating its anti-corruption policies, company e-mails and memos show.

According to the internal company emails and memos seen by the Globe and Mail, Barrick Gold's former subsidiary, Acacia Mining, paid up to $1.2million (3.005 billion shillings) a year to a group of Tanzanian government officials in 2015.

The payments, which began in 2008 and covered per diem payments and car hire expenses, were made to civil servants belonging to a national law enforcement task force called the NTF.

The emails suggest that Acacia executives were concerned that the payments created the appearance of undue influence over public servants.

Payments were halted in November 2015.

In its response to the Globe and Mail’s article on corruption allegations, the Barrick Gold said that the article was based on documents that have been recently referenced in United Kingdom Court proceedings concerning claims for compensation by Tanzanian citizens arising from incidents that took place at the North Mara Mine in Tanzania between 2014 and 2019.

“The NTF is not a party to the UK proceedings nor is it alleged to have been involved in any of the incidents which took place at the North Mara Mine.” Barrick Gold said early today.

“As explained in those documents, the NTF is an official law enforcement agency of the government of the United Republic of Tanzania. The NTF primarily conducts counter-organised crime, -terrorism, -corruption, and -intelligence operations throughout Tanzania. In particular, as a national resource, the NTF is responsible for protecting the interests of critical national and private sector infrastructure.”

The Barrick Gold submits that Acacia Mining had entered into arrangements with NTF.  “As a major contributor to the local economy, and similarly to other private sector organizations in developing countries, Acacia Mining Plc (the predecessor company to Barrick TZ Limited), entered into arrangements with the NTF in relation to its operations in Tanzania. These included a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in May 2014.”

The world gold mining giant said that the arrangement was entirely bona fide and all payments made under the arrangement were proper and supported the provision of important policing services which helped to prevent serious crime.

“Acacia, or indeed any Barrick entity, has never exercised control or direction over the NTF, the Tanzanian police or over any branch or agency of the Tanzania police.”

Barrick Gold says that as the documents illustrate, Acacia continuously monitored compliance with all applicable laws. A decision was taken by Acacia to terminate the MOU (and the payments thereunder) in October 2015, and payments ceased to be made from November 2015. This decision did not reflect any breach of any applicable law.

Violence has occurred around Barrick's North Mara gold mine in Tanzania for over a decade, with villagers entering the site to extract waste rock.

In 2019, Barrick took over Acacia's shares in the mine. The company has said that violence is a "legacy" issue, but rights groups have reported numerous deaths since 2019.

** Osoro Nyawangah contributed to this article