“There’s nothing new with the report … that the Force is most corrupt
public outfit has been reported in past surveys such as National
Governance and Corruption Survey last year,”
Dr Edward Hosea, PCCB Director
PHOTO|FILE
By Bernard Lugongo The Citizen Reporter
Posted Tuesday, October 29 2013 at 00:00
Posted Tuesday, October 29 2013 at 00:00
In Summary
“Bribery remains a key challenge for Tanzania when
people seek public service” Mr Bubelwa Kaiza, the executive director of
Fordia,
Dar es Salaam. Tanzania police force is the most
corrupt entity among graft-ridden sectors in East African Community
member states, according to a new report.
The police forces across the EAC region took the
first five positions as the most bribery prone public outfits, with
Tanzania’s law enforcers scoring 72.9 per cent in bribery aggregation
followed by Kenya (70.7 per cent), Burundi (64 per cent), Uganda (60 per
cent) and Rwanda (54 per cent), according to East Africa Bribery Index
(EABI) 2013 released yesterday in Dar es Salaam. The survey, conducted
by Transparency International (TI) in collaboration with an NGO called
Fordia in carrying out the study in Tanzania, concludes that the Police
Force, the Judiciary and the tax collectors took the overall top
positions as the most bribery prone.
The police also scored 72.9 per cent as most
corrupt in the list of Top Ten most corrupt sectors within the country,
followed by Judiciary (38.3 per cent), tax services (36.9 per cent),
Others (31.3 per cent), Land Services (26.9 per cent).
However, the police spokesperson, Ms Advera Senso,
reacted that though she was not aware of the methodology used in the
survey, it was not right to judge a whole institution as there might be
some unethical individuals like in other institutions who engage in such
misconducts.
She said the survey could also ask whether the people were aware of the laws in which police operate.
“This is because in many cases, for instance, when
people see a suspect released in short hours after being arrested they
conclude that the police have taken bribes, without knowing that there
are some cases that a suspect can be released on bail even immediately,”
she said.
But, director of Prevention and Combating of
Corruption Bureau (PCCB), Dr Edward Hosea, said he found nothing new
with the report since the concern that the Police Force is the most
corrupt public outfit has been reported in past surveys such as the
National Governance and Corruption Survey last year.
Others in the list are medical services (22.0 per
cent), registry and licensing services (21.6 per cent), utilities (water
& electricity) (15.4 per cent), city & local councils (15.1 per
cent), educational institutions (12.5 per cent).
“Bribery remains a key challenge for Tanzania when
people seek public service” Mr Bubelwa Kaiza, the executive director of
Fordia, said.
Mr Kaiza said the inclusion of the judiciary,
police and the tax collectors in Tanzania as amongst the Top Ten in the
corruption league and a similar ranking of peer institutions in the
other countries was particularly disturbing.
“Law enforcement and the justice system are very
key institutions in this country and region, we should not let bribery
compromise on this”, he noted. The survey established that the highest
average size of bribe in Tanzania was paid in the tax services sector at
Sh137,767.76 (about $8713).
The police, though leading in other categories had a low ranking in the average size of bribe category (about Sh57,000)
However, on average across all bribery affected sectors in EAC,
Tanzania has improved by one rank, from second last year to third
position this year in the EABI.
Burundi worsened by moving two spots up to take
position two with an aggregate of 18.6 per cent as compared to the
results last year.
The aggregate likelihood of bribery was highest in
Uganda where a citizen seeking state services encounters the highest
likelihood of bribery at 26.8 per cent.
That was the same position held last year but with
a higher aggregate. Tanzania (12.9 per cent) came in at third while
Kenya was fourth (7.9 per cent) with each moving down a spot, again with
relatively lower aggregates.
Rwanda remains at position five but was the only
country in the region that had an increased aggregate, 4.4 per cent, up
from 2.5 per cent in 2012.
The survey noted that in terms of offering to pay a
bribe on their own volition, Tanzanians come second at 11 per cent
after Burundians (13 per cent).
The EABI 2013 survey was conducted in the five EAC
countries between April and July 2013 at the household level. The
respondents were picked through simple random sampling based on
population sizes across the various political administrative areas in
each country.
Data was collected through face to face interviews
and recorded bribery experiences from 10,491 respondents, Tanzanians
being 2,445.
Majority of respondents in Tanzania and Kenya said
they paid bribes to hasten up service, those in Burundi said they paid
bribes because it was expected.
In Rwanda, most of the respondents said they paid
bribes to access a service one did not deserve, and in Uganda, majority
of the interviewees admitted to paying bribes because it was the only
way to access service.
Across the region, reporting of bribery cases was
generally low, with only about 10 per cent of respondents who
encountered bribery reported. The majority said they did not report
because they knew no action would be taken against the culprits.
The report says even with investments the Tanzania
government has put into the PCCB, citizens do not seem to trust it to
report bribery.
But, Mr Hosea responded that the statement was not right since there were many cases in courts over reported corruption.
“If there are people who don’t report it’s their problem, but others report and we take action,” he said.
SOURCE: THE CITIZEN
SOURCE: THE CITIZEN
