Corruption in Tanzania: The Case for Circumstantial Evidence By ...

It is observed that corruption downgrades the quality of social service delivery in Tanzania to a level below the expectations of the general public.³² The National Afro Barometer Survey³³ also showed that Tanzanians see petty corruption by public officials as pervasive. The most common form is that which involves government officials at the local authority level, namely, the traffic police, court clerks, and magistrates. It is commonly held that corruption is rarely a victimless crime. However, Justice Heath held a different view: the state is also a victim of crime, including corruption, because it suffers financial losses as a result of nondelivery of goods for which payment should be made. Loss can occur as a result of simple theft and fraud; vehicles, equipment, and other goods are lost as a result of various schemes of corruption, fraud, theft, and negligent conduct or lack of control.³⁴

Corruption can cause death as featured in a marine disaster of May 1996, involving a passenger liner MV Bukoba. This vessel capsized in shallow waters in Lake Victoria with the loss of an estimated seven hundred lives. A judicial commission report published in September 1996 blamed the Tanzania Railways Marine Division for operating the vessel without due care. The division was said to have been characterised by gross negligence, inefficiency, and corruption.³⁵ The government was also blamed for buying a defective ship, and the Belgian Shipbuilders (BSC) for supplying a vessel that did not correspond to the specifications and for not giving users adequate guidelines on how to handle the ship.³⁶

1.2.4. Economic Growth and Sustenance

With a population of 33,671,453 people,³⁷ Tanzania remains one of the poorest countries of the world, although it is endowed with abundant natural resources. Tanzania heavily depends on international assistance revenue—this accounted for 10 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) and 33 percent of the government budget in 2000. The revenue from overseas development assistance stands at US$1 billion per year, which makes Tanzania one of the most donor-dependent countries in sub-Saharan Africa. The Poverty Reduction Strategy adopted in 1997 has resulted in the Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) debt relief of 45 percent (US$7.6 billion) that allows the country to channel its resources to other priority areas.³⁸