CORRUPTION IN TANZANIA

State of corruption in Tanzania has not changed yet-Diplomat

The Swiss Ambassador to Tanzania has said what he said 13 months ago about the state of corruption in Tanzania had not changed and it continued mowing down development efforts and affecting millions of Tanzanians along its way.

In fact, if anything, he said the situation was still worrisome and hence the dire need to step up efforts in combating the deadly vice.

Mr Adrian Schlaepfer who was the guest of honour at the launch of the Kiswahili version of the Corruption Tracker website on July 5th this year (2010) at the New Africa Hotel in Dar es Salaam was speaking before he launched the Tanzania Corruption Tracker System (CTS) II website.

Speaking at the first launch of the Corruption Tracker at the same venue in Dar es Salaam on May 26th last year (2009), Mr Schlaepfer said “corruption is a development killer”.

“It is a sad necessity for me,” he said, “I have to repeat the sentence, corruption is a development killer, today 13 months on,” he said.

He said the simple inter linkage between the progress of a society and the behaviour of some of its members continue to be the key reason why all stakeholders working for the development of Tanzania need to join hands and efforts to combat corruption at all levels.

“To do so should not be seen as a matter for some of us to take the moral high ground, but it is indeed a vital need and in the direct interest of all segments of society to take upon themselves, with a view to paving the way for equitable and sustainable socio-economic development,” he said.

The Swiss ambassador paid glowing tribute to the Corruption Tracker and its host, Agenda Participation 2000, for a well done work.

“But how about impact?” he asked. “Has the Corruption Tracker System actually helped to reduce corruption in Tanzania?” he asked.

But without waiting for any answer, he said, “The answer is short: we don’t know yet”.

He said one year of work was simply too short to gauge changes that can be clearly and unequivocally attributed to the work of the Tracker.
“What we do know however, is that the number of ‘reported’ cases of corruption has not decreased,” he said.

He continued, “Corruption does remain one of the biggest impediments for development in Tanzania, and this in spite of a string of strong commitments by the Tanzanian legislative and executive to enhance the fight against the scourge,” he said.

He cited some of the country’s efforts towards containing the vice as the establishment of a comprehensive and commendable body of laws, regulations and oversight institutions aimed at preventing, investigating and sanctioning corrupt practices.

However, despite all these efforts, he said, the Transparency International (TI) indicated in its last year’s (2009) report that Tanzania had slipped down by 24 places in the TI’s Corruption Perception Index ranking from the year before.

“The report mentions as possible reasons for this the lack of transparency in the fight against corruption and halting and cumbersome conduct and conclusion for corruption prosecution cases,” the Swiss ambassador said.

The Swiss Ambassador also recalled Tanzania’s dismal performance in the US based Heritage Foundation’s 2010 Economic Freedom Report Index.

He said according to the renowned American institution, the country’s poor showing could be attributed to the manner with which Tanzania enforced laws, regulations and sanctions when it came to dealing with corruption.

He argued that if improving business environment was a major priority for the government as a means for fostering economic growth and income generation, then there was no way Tanzania was going to succeed without combating corruption.

He paid tribute both to the media and the Corruption Tracker for bringing forth a new enemy he described as the quiet corruption.

“This is the kind of cost that is inflicted upon a citizen when public servants fail to deliver services or input that have been paid for by the government,” he explained.

“The most prominent examples are absence of teachers in school or absentee doctors in primary clinics. Quiet corruption does not make the headlines the way bribery scandals do. Nevertheless, the long term consequences of this type of squandering of public funds on an economy and society can be just as devastating,” said the Swiss diplomat.

Mr Schlaepfer however, admitted that Tanzania, or developing countries for that matter, were not alone in the quagmire, noting that apart from being part of the problem, developed countries had a role to play both in preventing and combating corruption.

He said since developed nations were part of the problem, it was only fair that they also became part of the solution, a role he said they could play by stemming the flow of ill-gotten funds and assets from poor to rich countries.

“It is estimated that between 20 and 40 billion US dollars is stolen yearly from developing countries through bribery, misappropriation of funds and other corrupt practices.

Only five billion US dollars of stolen money has been actually returned over the last 16 years, one third of it from Switzerland,” he said.

“According to the World Bank, developing countries could use 20 billion US dollars to finance 48,000 kilometers of paved roads, first-line treatment for 120 million people living with HIV/aids for a full year, or some 50 million water connection for poor households,” he said.

Ambassador Schlaepfer and his Finnish colleague, Ambassador Juhani Toivonen have been supporting the Corruption Tracker since its inception as away of building civil society and government collaborative efforts in the fight against corruption. The two governments are also leading contributors to the government’s budget through the Joint Assistance Strategy and Budget Support framework.