Tanzania excels in anti-graft bid

CORRUPTION cases are likely to remain rife in African nations, save for Tanzania and Rwanda, which have intensified wars against graft, making it difficult to transact fraudulently.

East African Association of Anti-Corruption Authorities’ (EAAAC) President Valentino Mlowola, said here yesterday that efforts to combat the vice have started bearing fruits in the region, with Tanzania becoming second after Rwanda in the list of less corrupt nations out of eight EAAAC member states.

Mr Mlowola who doubles as Director General of the Prevention and Combatting of Corruption Bureau (PCCB) was speaking at the opening session of the 10th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of EAAAC, which brought together heads of anti-corruption agencies from Ethiopia, South-Sudan, Djibouti, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Zanzibar and mainland Tanzania. PCCB is hosting the EAAAC’s AGM for the third time, having already hosted the meeting in 2008 and 2012.

The rotational meetings among member states discuss challenges and experiences related to the fighting of graft.

Minister of State in the President’s Office, Public Service Management and Good Governance, Ms Angella Kairuki, Switzerland Ambassador to Tanzania, Florence Tunguely Mattli and Executive Secretary of African Union Advisory Board on Corruption, Charity Nchimuya, were among the distinguished personalities at the meeting.

Ms Kairuki described corruption and fraud as cross-border rackets through which dishonesty people make fortunes and then transfer the loots to other countries to evade investigations and persecution.

The issue of introducing special subjects in the school curriculum to impact knowledge about corruption among the school children emerged, with Mr Mlowola saying already

Tanzania has been involving the youth in the fight against the vice.

He said as of June 2016, Tanzania had 3,601 anti-corruption clubs, with 273,245 members in primary schools, 4,169 clubs with 285,000 members in secondary schools and 109 clubs with 11,745 members in colleges and universities.