1. Introduction
Tanzania remains one of the world’s most corrupt
countries despite years or even decades of attempts to crack down corruption.
The paper's purpose is to describe, analyze and discuss corruption in Tanzania.
The emphasis of this paper is to provide an overview and background of the country's
democracy and corruption development. A political overview of the situation in
Tanzania, and an analytical discussion of the country's corruption and the
efforts undertaken against corruption will be provided. This paper will also present, briefly, Leftwich's and Mungiu-Pippidi's theories and argument on how to combat
corruption, which might give some insight into why the Tanzanian situation is
not improving.
2. Background
Tanzania is a developing country in the region of East
Africa. Tanzania gained its independence in the 1960s from the British Empire.
Democratization processes halted in 1965 when the country became a de jure one-party socialist state.
Tanzania nationalized its economy and incorporated or neutralized its civil
society (Hussmann,
K. & Mmuya, M. 2006). Since
independence, Tanzania experienced modest economic growth of about 5% annually
until 1986 when the economy collapsed. Upon the collapse
of 1986, Tanzania had experienced a longer economic decline caused partly by
the oil crisis and the war with Uganda (Seppänen,
M. & Virtanen, P. 2007). The state controlled economy’s steady decline resulted in the
rise of the country’s informal economy. When the economy finally collapsed,
Tanzania was forced into formal agreements with the International Monetary Fund
(IMF) and the World Bank (WB) (Hussmann,
K. & Mmuya, M. 2006).
IMF and WB are institutions ultimately
controlled by its member states, and at the time the dominating member states
were: USA, Japan, Germany, the UK and France. These countries embraced and
still embrace the neo-liberal ideals. Neo-liberalism is not merely an economic
theory but also a political ideology which cherishes open-market economies, and
a minimalistic public sector. At the time of the collapse of the Tanzanian
economy the Soviet Union was weakened, and eventually seized to exist.
Therefore, by the end of the Cold War, the Western-controlled IMF and WB were
free to impose neo-liberal and good-governance conditions for further financial
aid, without any fears of Tanzania leaning onto the Soviet Union for assistance
(Leftwich,
A.
1994).
However, deregulation of the economy and
the privatization of the public industries were done without proper supervision
and frameworks. Severe ethical breaches were made and corruption was widespread
at all levels of society, especially on the grand political level. Due to the
alarming levels of corruption the international donors froze their assets
allocated for Tanzania (Seppänen,
M. & Virtanen, P. 2006).
3. The Political situation
Tanzania abolished the de jure one-party state in 1992, despite
of that Tanzania has been under the control of the same party since 1965. In a
recent election the ruling Chima Cha Mapinduzi Party received 86% of the seats
in the parliament. The electoral and the campaign financing systems both favor
the ruling party. Tanzania has eighteen political parties, of which four
parties are currently in the opposition in the Tanzanian parliament. The
fragmentation of the opposition makes it difficult for an effective
opposition-coalition to form. Parliament works mostly as a rubberstamp for the
government. Often appearing, as if the parliamentary hearings are only a
formality for the government. A factor further undermining the opposition is
Tanzania’s strong semi-presidential system. The president can even appoint ten
members of parliament (Hussmann,
K. & Mmuya, M. 2007).
4. Status of Corruption
Corruption in Tanzania is alarmingly
wide-spread. Whole of the Tanzanian society is infested with corruption. After
the heights in the late 1980s and mid 1990s corruption has become less open.
However, corruption is present on all levels of society corruption is
systematic and exists on the petty and grand scale. Alarmingly, corruption has
even as of late been present at the presidential office itself. There have been
strong allegations of President Benjamin Mkapa, 1995-2005, being involved in a
corruption scandal. A further issue is that governmental policies seem to be
driven by client-patronage interests (Hussmann,
K. & Mmuya, M. 2007). Further, corruption is also present in the private sector.
International companies are known to have struck deals through means of
corruption in order to access to the country’s abundant natural resources (Seppänen,
M. & Virtanen, P. 2008).
Classifying Tanzania into a corruption
category the state would classify as purely particularistic, in other terms a
hybrid-regime. Tanzania’s ruling party CCM has an unjust power-position due to
favorable electoral and campaign financing legislation, which essentially ensures
CCM an uncontested power monopoly. People seeking public positions have to have
connections to the CCM, since recruitment is strongly based on favorism. As
opposed to, decisions based on objective and good-governance principles. Thus
the state can be regarded as property of CCM. Tanzania is ruled by social
hierarchies and informal conventions rather than by the rule of law. People get
better treatment the closer they stand to the power center of the ruling elite.
Individuals strive to get privileged positions rather than change society.
Those who do not stand close to power must bribe for equal treatment (Mungiu-Pippidi,
A.
2006).
Tanzania is one of the world’s poorest
countries with only about $674 per capita incomes, people seem to be more
concerned with surviving. Rather than fixing the corruption issue,
none-the-less, corruption adds to the living costs as an extra fee in many
instances. Corruption in Tanzania is condemned but it is not the top concern of
the people. Executives, households and public workers listed corruption as
Tanzania’s third or fourth largest problem after inflation and living costs (GoT / PCCB 2009). The
distributions of public goods have been worsened due to neo-liberal policies.
Health care and education costs have soared, subsidies for small businesses and
consumers have been severely cut. Thus, the distribution of wealth has become
more unequal, increasingly, favoring those with affluence and influence (Hussmann,
K. & Mmuya, M. 2007).
Figure and classification base by Mungiu-Pippidi,
A.
(2006).
5. Efforts against Corruption
Sadly, the international community’s
cooperation with the Tanzanian regime on anti-corruption initiatives has only
helped the Tanzanian corrupt regime to legitimate itself. Efforts made by the
donors have helped the Tanzanian regimes reputation both internationally and
domestically. Current efforts by the international donors are based on the
presumption, that the ruling CCM Party would self-clean itself from its corrupt
elements. However, there have thus far been no proofs of this happening. CCM
seems to be successfully using the current efforts against corruption as a
political survival strategy. Credibility is increased by appearing to be doing
something while in fact doing nothing (Hussmann,
K. & Mmuya, M. 2007). The few people getting caught and punished at present, are
likely to be people that have lost a power struggle or just fallen out of favor
within the elite. Tanzania has trouble getting
anti-corruption and transparency legislation implemented. Action plans are
being made without sufficient amount of information (Seppänen,
M. & Virtanen, P. 2008). There is a spider-web of agencies and institutions assigned to
combat corruption, which also seem to be in a constant reform process. Trouble
is that agencies are poorly coordinated and partly overlapping, and they all
directly report to the president’s office through a filter of only three to
four staff members. Furthermore, the difficulties in accessibility to public
information are a threat against transparency and civil empowerment (Hussmann,
K. & Mmuya, M. 2007).
6. Time for a different remedy?
Leftwich and Mungiu-Pippidi oppose the idea that
problems regarding corruption that are at its core political should be
attempted to be solved in technocratic ways. They argue that no matter how much
efforts there are made into improving the technical aspects of bureaucracy it
will not help, unless there is political will backing those efforts. Leftwhich
and Mungiu-Pippidi look at aspects such as civil society and enlightenment as
solutions against corruption. They are advocating that the people should be
taught of the consequences of corruption.
They argue that without a vibrant civil society, that voluntarily
monitors society and condemns corruption, there cannot be an effective effort
against corruption. Without the will of the people there cannot be democracy,
and without the will of the people there cannot be a society without
corruption. In the Leftwhich and Mungiu-Pippidi analysis any anti-corruption
strategy has to build upon the strengthening and empowerment of civil society
and the people. They do not believe in an uncorrupt society without active
citizens that actively seeks to combat injustice.
Alina Mungiu-Piddi goes as far as to advocating the level of struggle that
stretches to civil war. She believes that the best time to strike against a
corrupt government is during the time of political or economic turmoil. That is
the period when the opposition is at its strongest and the government at its
weakest (Leftwich,
A.
1994) (Mungiu-Pippidi,
A. 2006). ‘’For all these reasons, in both the
analysis and promotion of development, it is time to bring politics back in.’’
– Adrian Leftwich.
’’Particularism cannot be fought by
government – that is a contradiction in terms. Historically it has been the political
opposition, civil society, or even enlightened deposits who have promoted the
greatest strides forward’’ - Mungiu-Pippidi. Tanzania’s problem is that there is a lack
of political will for change. The political opposition is small, and
insignificant and unable to make lasting coalitions. Loud politicians in the
oppositions are either incorporated or silenced. Civil society is rather
underdeveloped and weak. If Tanzania is to get rid of corruption it needs to
get rid of restrictions in freedom of speech, and stop prosecuting
whistle-blowers like the journalist that exposed President Benjamin Mkapas (Hussmann,
K. & Mmuya, M. 2007). If the lack of opposition and civil society is one of the main
problems, the other problem is the ruling party. CCM is well organized and
remains strong in Tanzania; it is a difficult adversary even for a strong
opposition.
7. International community and the rise of
China
International donors have tried to
cooperate with the government in order to press for change. However, the
neo-liberal approaches have only made Tanzania more unequal, living costs have
been raised for the poorest in Tanzania due these policies. This has led to a
situation where the development of civil society is undermined. People are
increasingly forced to focus on survival. If people need to focus on survival
they will not be able to think about politics and society. The international
community has cooperated with the Tanzanian government but the results have
been next to fictional anti-corruption acts, which have only helped the
government to cling onto power.
Looking at the future, the strategy needs
to change on the side of the donors if they want to reduce corruption. Instead
of cooperating with the government, and pushing for neo-liberal policies, they
should emphasize the help on developing civil society. International donors should
focus on developing education in Tanzania, to get involved with the community
in order to help the citizens of Tanzania empower themselves. Western
governments might have to step up the game, and put some political pressure on
the Tanzanian government in order to improve the situation in freedom of speech
and civil society. Tanzania receives around 40% of its GDP in aid. Therefore, a
coordinated effort could bring about radical improvements in the state of civil
society in Tanzania (Hussmann,
K. & Mmuya, M. 2007).
The
problem is that the democratization and anti-corruption development window
might be closing soon in Tanzania, and other African countries in a similar
situation. China, an emerging superpower, has turned its eyes on the rich
natural resources of Africa. China is known for not giving any moral advice to
its international partners, as it itself is an undemocratic oligarchy.
Furthermore, China has the advantage in Africa of not having the burden of an
old colonial master, unlike several of the Western-democracies. ‘’ Tanzania is one of the largest aid recipients in the region with around
40% of the national budget financed through external resources and 80% of the
development budget financed through Official Development Assistance (ODA).’’ - Hussmann,
K. & Mmuya, M. 2007. What will happen if China fills those shoes without any political
demands unlike the West has on Tanzania? Will the political rights of the
Tanzanian people be further compromised?
Refernces list
Authors
Bengtsson, Å. (2007) ‘’Politiskt deltagande’’ Lund: Studentlitteratur,
2007.
Leftwich,
A. (1994)
"Governance, the State and Politics of Development" in Development
and Change vol. 25
Mungiu-Pippidi,
A. (2006)
"Corruption: diagnosis and treatment" in Journal of Democracy vol. 17
Seppänen,
M. & Virtanen, P. (2008) "Corruption, Poverty and Gender" - the case of
Tanzania, (Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland) (p. 110-145)
Organizations
Lectures
Groop, C. (2013) ‘’Lecture number three in Corruption and Development’’,
Åbo Akademi University spring of 2013.
Internet
Internet I:
