The head of Tanzania’s ports authority has been suspended over his alleged involvement in cargo theft and embezzlement of public funds. Six other officials were also suspended for the same reasons.

In a statement on its website, Tanzania’s ministry of transport stated that Transport Minister Harrison Mwakyembe suspended the director-general of the state-run Tanzania Ports Authority, Ephraim Mgawe, and his two deputies, as well as the manager of the port’s aviation fuel depot, the head of the port’s oil jetty and the jetty’s engineer, while an investigation is being carried out.

It said there is a huge problem concerning corruption in ministries and state institutions, and the government was having a difficult time finding a solution to curbing it.

Six landlocked countries make use of Tanzania’s main port, which has been plagued by allegations of corruption and ineffective service.

The port, which serves Malawi, Zambia, the DRC, Burundi, Rwanda and Uganda, has been losing its market share of international cargo to other ports in the region like Kenya’s Mombasa and Mozambique’s Beira ports, the transport ministry said.

Local media quoted Mwakyembe as saying that up to 40 containers loaded with fabrics were reported stolen, and port officials were under-declaring fuel quantities leaving the port.

No comment has been made by the suspended officials as of yet.