By Frank Kimboy
The Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau (PCCB) and Judiciary should shoulder the blame for Tanzania's sharp drop in the global corruption rankings, politicians and activists said yesterday.
They told The Citizen that the two key institutions were not doing enough to stamp out entrenched corruption.
Their reaction came after respected anti-corruption watchdog Transparency International (TI) released a report showing that Tanzania has dropped 24 places in this year's Global Corruption Perception Index (CPI).
According to the results released on Tuesday by the Berlin-based body, the country has slipped from the 102nd position in 2008 to the 126th spot this year.
The Leader of the Official Opposition in Parliament, Mr Hamad Rashid Mohammed, said the Judiciary did not act fast to clear pending corruption cases, while the PCCB was dragging its feet in investigating allegations of grand corruption.
Mr Hamad told The Citizen in a telephone interview that although Parliament had been at the forefront in the fight against graft, it was unfortunate that the Executive and Judiciary had not been aggressive enough in fighting the vice.
"There are many corruption scandals that parliamentarians have exposed and demanded tough action, but the Executive and Judiciary have so far done nothing in this regard," he said.
He added: " It must be understood that the Government's will and commitment to tame corruption is key to stamping out the malpractice if we are really intent on moving forward."
Mr Mohammed, who is a CUF parliamentarian, also questioned the sincerity of the ruling CCM in the campaign against corruption.
He was said attempts by the ruling party to rein in outspoken CCM parliamentarians raised "a lot of questions".
Mr Moses Kulaba, the executive secretary of Agenda 2000, a non-governmental organisation committed to promoting democracy and good governance, accused the Government of assuming the role of a spectator as Parliament and the media spearheaded the fight against corruption.
He said the PCCB was not efficient in investigating and corruption scandals and prosecuting the masterminds, and could therefore not escape blame for Tanzania's "poor" record in fighting graft.
Mr Kulaba said mega-corruption scandals such as the Richmond, EPA, Alex Stewart and radar scams were all revealed by either the media or parliamentarians.
He wondered how corruption scandals of such a magnitude could not be detected by the PCCB, and instead left to the media and MPs to unearth.
Mr Kulaba said many corruption suspects were being acquitted because of the PCCB's "shoddy investigations" and its failure to effectively prosecute those charged with corruption.
The chairman of the opposition NCCR-Mageuzi, Mr James Mbatia, said putting the PCCB under the Office of the President was a "grave mistake", adding that this made it impossible for the agency to operate independently.
"The law that established the PCCB is flawed. Putting the anti-corruption watchdog under the Office of the President gives the Government the leeway to interfere in its affairs when it feels its interests are threatened," he said.
Mr Mbatia said Tanzania would continue to lose credibility on the international stage if the Government would not address the shortcomings.
PCCB public relations officer Doreen Kapwani said she had not seen the TI report, but added that reports that Tanzania had fared better than other East African countries were "encouraging".
According to the TI findings, Tanzania posted its first worst performance in recent years in the annual ranking of the 180 countries surveyed worldwide.
However, with the exception of Rwanda, Tanzania did better in the region, ranking higher than Kenya (146) and Uganda (130) in the global index. Kenya improved by one position, while Uganda dropped four places.
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Rwanda, which was ranked the same with Tanzania in 2008, is now considered the least corrupt country in the East Africa, coming in at an impressive 89th place.
The country led by reformist President Paul Kagame, who has won world accolades for wide-ranging steps to improve governance, went up by 14 positions to break into the top 100, with a CPI score of 3.7 points. Burundi, the worst performer in the region, was ranked 168th.
Tanzania's best ranking was 94, in 2007, when Parliament finally passed a law, establishing the Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau (PCCB). In 2006, the country was ranked 101.
With this year's decline, the average CPI score and confidence rating of the country's anti-corruption efforts dropped from 3.2 points in 2007 to 2.6 points this year, out of a maximum of 10 points, in what points to a setback in efforts to fight graft in high places.
