Two Tanzanian former finance ministers were jailed for three years for issuing illegal tax exemptions costing the government millions of dollars in lost revenues.
Basil Mramba, 75, and Daniel Yona, 74, both from the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi party, were in government when they issued the tax exemptions between 2002 and 2004.
"The accused acted arbitrarily in granting tax exemptions to a gold audit firm, totally disregarding advice by taxation and legal authorities," the judgement read.
The firm that received the exemptions was a subsidiary of UK-based Alex Stewart International.
Relatives wept as the sentence was read out in court in Tanzania's main city Dar es Salaam.
The East African nation is Africa's fourth-largest gold producer after South Africa, Ghana and Mali.
