Tanzania has the best record of all three countries in its efforts to control corruption and also scores best under the "Rule of Law" category. Both Kenya and Tanzania score well under the "Voice and Accountability" section, while Uganda is said to be the least stable politically.
Tanzania is also said to be the country that rates highest in terms of government effectiveness.
The ratings are based on the views of East African citizens, businesses and other survey results taken over the past 10 years.
This is really good news for economic development in Tanzania because research shows a strong correlation between higher growth and reduced corruption.
I have blogged here about recent anti-corruption legislation in Tanzania and I am now interested to see that the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) have run 3-day training workshops for Tanzanian Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau (PCCB) prosecutors. The training brings prosecutors up to speed on the new Prevention and Combating of Corruption Act and offers techniques for diagnosing a case, developing a theory of the crime, getting evidence admitted in court, and speaking persuasively in court.
PCCB Director General Edward Hosea and DPP Assistant Director Augustine Shio (speaking) participate in PCCB prosecutor trainingThrough case studies and presentations by an experienced former U.S. federal prosecutor and talks by senior prosecutors and judges from the Department of Public Prosecution (DPP) and the Court of Appeal, the training is expected to bolster the number of successful corruption prosecutions carried out by the PCCB and DPP.
USAID is also providing PCCB with support for the development of an electronic case management system, information technology equipment, and vehicles to facilitate field investigations.
A lot of hard work like this goes into building the capacity for better governance. Tanzania is putting the hard work, with the help of the international community.
In the same way, the School of St Jude is putting in a lot work to develop better teaching practices so that bright children from poor families have the chance of a good education.
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5 comments:
Control Corruption, Rule of Law, Voice and Accountability.. You must be living in a bubble. Tanzania should score almost zero on those categories, just take a look at current situation whereby people who involved in BIG Money corruption are shielded from any PCCB Investigation by the President himself saying we should leave the past behind us, which is 3 years ago when Huge amount of money was missused, so where is the rule of law if some people are above that law. How can we score on Voice and Accountability when those who speak on behalf of people are expelled from the parliament. What I know is that WB in conjunction with our currupt leaders are trying to fool us with sweet progressive words when the reality on the ground speak otherwise. If we were progressing you would not have written that "In the same way, the School of St Jude is putting in a lot work to develop better teaching practices so that bright children from POOR families have the chance of a good education".
I applaud your effort and you should teach those kids the reality of life in their country so that they grow up knowing what they will be facing.
I am sorry to hear that you don't see signs of progress. What you describe is very worrying. I hope that it can be changed over time, so that Tanzania has a better future. If the rich and powerful always keep things to themselves, the poorest families can never have a brighter future for their children.
The World Bank report notes some signs of improvement but says that there is a long way to go yet before Tanzania and other East African countries eliminate corrupt practices.
What actions do you think will help prod the TZ govt into fighting corruption?
Hi Gillian,
Actions that will help to eliminate corruptions in our society is Transparency, and awareness of rights, many people are involved in corruptions practices because they do not know their rights when seeking a certain service especialy from government institutions. We need to use all modes of communications to inform the masses about their rights and how they should use them when seeking for services. At the same time the government should take initiatives to train service providers in all levels about their roles and limits and how they should provide their services. Beaurocracy is the main fuel to corruption so transparent and simplified procedures should be used so those who seek services knows exactly how they will obtain what they are looking for. corruption is like a cancer in the development of any nation, its effects are even worse to those living below the poverty line. If your school would teach those children the effect of corruptions and its consequences they will hate it and it will empower them to find other ways of fighting against it.
We are living in a country where there is no proper guidelines for those entrusted with power to make decisions, there is no sense of responsibility on what is going on the street, to me government should be more responsible to the welfare of its abiding citizen and people should be told about their rights. I know most of work guidlines in most of government offices were inherited from british colonial masters, those guidelines have not changed. From my understanding colonial guideline is there to ensure maximum exploitation from the colony to benefit the master. now we are free we should devise guidelines that will still exploit our resources BUT for our own benefit. the current situation is that partisan are exploited for the benefit of few government masters to make it worse the wealth is shifted to foreign banks abroad leaving their people starving, while they are masquerading in expensive convoys of luxury vehicles and palaces.
Here's a relevant article in 'This Day', 4 Sept 2007,
http://www.thisday.co.tz/News/2636.html
It reports on a review by London-based Economist Intelligence Unit that is scathing about Tanzania's progress on fighting corruption.
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