| Chapter 1: | Corruption and Circumstantial Evidence |
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One the one hand, corruption is an extra cost and a waste to taxpayers because, while it is true that governments should impose taxes for revenue collection—which, in turn, runs the activities of the government and enables the government to deliver its essential services to the citizens—taxes and tariffs become an opportunity for bribery. On the other hand, corruption creates uncertainties for the taxpayers, who invariably do not know quite how much they have to pay. It reduces the revenue accruing to the government.28
In its effort to curb corruption, the government of Tanzania introduced the national anticorruption initiative,29 which proposed both preventive and deterrence measures to curb corruption in the country. However, these domestic initiatives target the demand side of corruption and naively ask corrupt leaders to judge themselves by collaborating with other stakeholders such as the private sector and civil society without focusing adequately on making corruption a high-risk undertaking.
Similarly, the report on the state of corruption in Tanzania implored that the long history of fighting corruption in Tanzania has revealed that there is a need to continue to update instruments and approaches for fighting corruption to cope with the changing nature and avenues of corruption as circumstances change.30
The Tanzania Development Vision 2025 has three major foci: achieving high-quality livelihood for Tanzanians, attaining good governance through the rule of law, and developing a strong and competitive economy.31 Corruption is a serious hindrance to the attainment of the national vision in Tanzania. Corruption is in addition a worldwide concern that calls for collective interventions through concrete, clear, concise, and comprehensive strategic action plans.
1.2.3. Corruption and Delivery of Social Services
The Warioba Report revealed that social service delivery by public institutions is crippled by corrupt transactions through public servants.