Tanzania among 14 most corrupt countries in the World.

 

Dar es Salaam.  Tanzania is among the 14 most corrupt countries in the world, according to a new report released yesterday.

Fellow East African Community member states Kenya and Uganda have performed even worse in Transparency International’s 2013 Global Corruption Barometer.

The survey conducted between September 2012 and March 2013 measured perception of corruption among Tanzanians obtained from face-to-face interviews countrywide.

About 56 per cent of those interviewed admitted to having paid a bribe to one or more government and non-governmental institutions that include political parties, religious organisations and media.

Although it was a slight improvement on perception of corruption from 64 per cent in the 2010/11 survey, the global standing has worsened, indicating that the country has not made much progress in fighting the problem.

In the previous survey (2010/11), Tanzania was not even among the 20 most corrupt countries in the world.

Kenya was the worst performer this year as the perception plummeted from 39 per cent in the previous survey to 70 per cent, meaning that the number of people who admitted to having given a bribe has increased. About 61 per cent of those surveyed in Uganda admitted to having paid bribes in the last two years.

Other countries where more than 50 per cent have admitted to having paid bribes include Cambodia, Cameroon, Ghana, India, Libya, Mozambique, Senegal, Yemen, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Zimbabwe.

Police and the judiciary were cited by respondents in the report as the most corrupt institutions, followed by medical and health institutions, civil servants, education system and political parties.

Others cited by those interviews as the most corrupt institutions also include media, religious organizations, the military and the private sector.

The Tanzania corruption watchdog officials refused to comment, saying they had yet to read the report.

“We cannot comment on the report yet, but you may call the institutions mentioned in the report for their comments,” said Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau (PCCB) Public Relations Officer Doreen Kapwani.

Police spokesperson Advera Senso could not comment because she was in a meeting.

The Minister of State in the President’s Office, Good Governance, Mr George Mkuchika, told The Citizen in a telephone interview from Kigali,  where he was attending a good governance meeting, that he was still reviewing the report.