Tanzania report on corruption out after delay

The Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau (PCCB) has bowed to the pressure by donors and Monday released a much awaited National Governance and Corruption Survey report.

The publishing of the report in the PCCB website comes only days after President Jakaya Kikwete directed that the report be made public owing to pressure from donors.

The President’s order was announced Monday in Dodoma by Prime Minister Mizengo Pinda during a joint General Budget Support (GBS) meeting, attended by the 12 donor countries’ envoys in the country.

The report shows generally that corruption was still a serious problem in the country, with respondents listing Police Force, Judiciary and education sector as areas which they perceive to be most corrupt in the country.

The report shows further that despite the efforts shown by President Kikwete’s administration, corruption has continued to be an impediment to the country’s development process.

The new survey, unsurprisingly, shows also that water and electricity supply agencies and lands office lead as institutions that provide poor services. The survey also established public officials as most initiators and perpetrators of corruption in the country.

The leading cause of corruption is attributed to greed, followed, for households and public officials by moral indecency and poor law enforcement and for company executives by lack of control and accountability of public officials and moral decay.

Other causes of corruption identified by more than 70 per cent of respondents are poor leadership, high cost of living, poor remuneration, lack of effective corruption reporting system, lack of independent and effective judiciary and poverty.

Public officials have been singled out by a majority of respondents as the initiators and perpetrators of corruption, who demand bribes from their clients before serving them.

The households in the country mention pension funds, insurance companies and tender boards as least corrupt entities in the country while company executives rate the Tanzania Postal Corporation (TPC), Parliament and Tanzania Telecommunications Company Ltd (TTCL) in the category.