TANZANIA'S DONORS have expressed "grave concern" over the government's commitment to combat corruption and fear that the fight against graft has been put off until 2006, when President Benjamin Mkapa will leave office.

In an unpublished mid-year donors’ review of the Poverty Reduction Budget Support and Poverty Reduction Support Credit, the development partners say they are seriously concerned by the continued delay in preparing the new Bill on Corruption.

The donors include the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, Canada, France, Germany, the UK, the Netherlands and the Nordic countries.

The report, made available to The EastAfrican, is a review conducted from March 29 to April 8. It says,"We note that a draft (Corruption Bill) was prepared by February, 2003 and it is with grave concern that we understand the Bill may not be tabled in parliament until 2006."

It adds, "As we understand, given the importance of a revised law for the possibilities of convicting corrupt agents/persons, such long delays in repeal and enactment of the anti-corruption law appear to indicate lack of commitment by the government. We strongly urge the government to enhance efforts to speed up enactment of the new law."

On the enactment of anti-corruption laws in the Local Government Authorities (LGAs), the donors noted that "this action has been delayed for more than two years now." 

"The donors encourage the government that the required budgetary provisions for elaboration of action plans in LGAs are included in the budgets for year 2004/05 and that serious actions are taken at LGA level to address issues of corruption." 

While the donors have raised their concerns over the government's apparent inaction over corruption, local observers decry the reluctance to implement the recommendations made by the Warioba Commission on Corruption.

Recently, President Mkapa criticised the media and politicians for accusing his government of corruption, saying instead that such media owners should explain to the public where they got their capital and how they recouped their losses.

However, donors have expressed concerns on several key issues, notably the consistency of budget allocations in the PRS priorities, reforms in public financial management, anti-corruption measures and private sector development.

They say that three of the 13 areas in the Performance Assessment Framework were not completed by March as expected, although the overall assessment of progress in implementing them was broadly satisfactory.

The areas are the business licensing system, amendment to the procurement law and the establishment and implementation of a credible and comprehensive programme to mitigate fiduciary risks in the Public Financial Management Reform Programme. This is critical for approval of new budget support agreements.

However, Tanzanian Attorney General Andrew Chenge says, "It is unfair to generalise in evaluating our fight against corruption," because efforts have been made to curb the vice and there is no pending new Bill on corruption. 

"What’s in the pipeline is making amendments to the anti-corruption law, which is being dealt with by other stakeholders such as the Tanzania Law Reform Commission," he said. The amendments would not be tabled in the 2004/05 budget session, he added.

The acting secretary of the Tanzania Law Reform Commission, Martin Chikawe, said the Commission would look into how best the anti-corruption law can be crafted. 

"We're going into the entire law, the concept of corruption and its genesis, and since last month, after consultations with the Attorney General, we initiated a study on the current law that would also involve getting public views," he said.

Mr Chikawe said the World Bank, through its Good Governance Department, had contacted the Law Reform Commission over the Bill and, "We told them that we're working on it. The Commission would also look into other areas that relate to the establishment of the Public Leaders’ Ethics Secretariat," he said.

Although the Act that established the Secretariat require persons holding certain public offices to make a formal declaration of their wealth, the process to access the information is not transparent, said Mr Chikawe, noting that the biggest weapon in fighting corruption was transparency.

Citing Britain's government administration as an example, Mr Chikawe said while it took three minutes to gain access to a public officer’s file at the office of the Public Leaders’ Secretariat, in Tanzania, one finds hindrances that include fees before such access is gained. These are some of the weaknesses of the law, he said.

Finance Minister Basil Mramba and his Permanent Secretary, Gray Mgonja, could not be reached for comment as they were in the US attending an International Monetary Fund (IMF) meeting.

However, despite their criticism of the government, there are areas where the donors appreciate the efforts made in poverty reduction, where they note the ongoing efforts towards ensuring a comprehensive consultation process. 

They also say that tax collections remain above target and that efforts to modernise tax administration are going on as planned.

"Macroeconomic stability has been maintained, despite the drought, and efforts to improve domestic revenue generation remain broadly on track," says the donor review. 

It adds, "Key elements of the reform of public service remains in line with plans, notably the continued decompression of public service wages, while maintaining fiscal prudence, which is critical to improve the performance of the public sector."
 

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