Open Societies Foundation for Africa

study on Effectiveness of National Anti

Corruption Agencies-A Case of PCCB-
Tanzania
A summary presentation of report findings
made to Tanzania members of Parliament
(APNAC)
By Moses Kulaba, Executive Director,
Governance and Economic Policy Centre,
7th April, 2017
Contact: +255 787 844411/754 844410
Email: mkulaba2000@gmail.com,
info@gepc.or.tz
Context
In Tanzania Corruption has been a National Security concern as it
undermines state functioning and affects public service delivery.
Government top leadership has regularly spoken about fighting
corruption

We will accelerate the war on corruption in a more scientific way

and by addressing its root causes... (National Governance and
Corruption study 2009, Vol 1, pg iv)

While inaugurating the PCCB Headquarters in 2009, President

Kikwete warned the PCCB officials to either fight corruption or quit.

Corruption was still prevalent-People are tired , feel can do nothing ,

have resigned to their fate..
42% had been asked for a bribe by a public official
82% who interacted with the police have paid a bribe
39% households, 49.7% company executives and 32.5% had given a
bribe
How is Corruption in Africa
today
Africa is reported as A corrupt continent,
whose leaders and elite shrive on the weak
governance structures to pilferage their
own governments, own resources and
people. A few live in splendor from ill
gotten wealth , stashed elsewhere, leaving
their own people tied up in poverty.
Objectives of the study
Assess the effectiveness of national anti
corruption agencies in East Africa-in this case
PCCB as a National Anti Corruption
Commission
Propose some recommendations which can
be used to improve PCCBs effectiveness
Generate discussion and commitment to
international (regional) and global
commitments towards addressing corruption
Explore the roles that Parliament can play in
strengthening the fight against corruption
Scope and Coverage
1. General Legal Framework governing PCCB
2. Status of the Agency (PCCB)
3. Status of PCCB Members /staff
4. Investigation and Prosecution of Cases: Public
complaints feed back, Witness Protection and
Interagency collaboration
5. Powers of Ceasure, Forefeiture, Recovery of Assets
and Mutual Legal Assistance (Sections 7,38-39,54-
55 of PCCA)
6. PCCBs Funding and resource envelop
7. PCCBs Relations: Private Sector Collaboration,
Membership with Regional bodies
8. PCCBs Performance : Case Management and
Resources recovered
9. Conclusions and Recommendations
Key Findings
Tanzania has an elaborate institution with a
nationwide infrastructure
Tanzania is still ranked the 2 nd least corrupt Country in
EA
PCCB is legally established by an Act of Parliament
(PCCA -2007) but not a Constitutional body
However, DG has no security of tenure
PCCBs mandate is limited to mainland-Difficulty in
coordination in Zanzibar
Absence of feed back on citizens complaints-Low
incentive to report corruption incidents to the agency
No guarantee for total secrecy and safety of whistle
blowers-Aggravated phobia (fear) to testify in courts
against perpetrators
 PCCBs Funding-Largely donor
dependent
Item Descripti 2012/13 2013/2014 2014/15 Donor
on

Actual Approved Approved

Expenditure estimates estimates
Sub 1003 Loca Forex Loca Forex Loca Forex Grant
Vote Policy l l l
and
Planning
6203 - 2,458,900, - 1,257,600, - 480,000,00 UNDP
000 000 0
6208 - 1,250,000, - 1,266,427, - 1,455,051, DFID
000 000 000

Source: URT: Volume IV: Public Expenditure Estimates Supply Votes (Ministerial) as submitted to the
National; Assembly 2014/15: Vote 30: Presidents Office and Cabinet Secretariat
http://www.mof.go.tz/mofdocs/budget/Budget%20Books/2014_2015/volume%20IV%20final.pdf , pg 28
A Table of PCCB Case Statics and Resources
recovered 2005-June 2014*USD equivalent
Comparison between Prosecution,
Conviction and Acquittals in PCCB
Corruption Cases 2005-2014
The PCCB data indicates the
Case management
summary number of cases filed in court
since the new Act (PCCA, 2007)
came into force has increased to
1,900 from a mere 147 cases
handled under the old PCA Act by
end of 2008. Despite the increase
in the volume of money
recovered and the number of
cases filed in courts, the PCCB
still faces a daunting challenge of
low conviction rates. According to
the data out of 5,450 cases
prosecuted only 473 convictions
had been secured by end of June
2014 representing a mere 8.6%
of all the total prosecutions
completed. A total of 574 cases
were acquitted representing
10.5% of the total prosecutions
in the period.
 PCCB Case statistics 2013-2016-Source PCCB
2017
Category 2013 2014 2015 2016
Received information 5,456 5,056 5000 8,203
Opened files 1,100 808 802 833
Files in progress 2,785 3,014 3,410 4,022
Closed files 209 204 164 118
Transferred to other 58 31 4 2
Depts
Disciplinary Action 19 15 36 28
Cases to DPP 420 302 366 360
Files from DPP 445 291 414 263
Request for Further 267 164 269 169
invest
New Cases filed 343 256 384 419
Ongoing Cases 684 649 596 418
Convictions 89 135 188 230
Acquittals 62 142 212 291
Withdrawals 17 33 32 45
Appeals 16 5 2 3
Profile of cases
Low conviction rates of under 10% of all
prosecutions
Majority of successful convictions are low cadre
with very low volumes of funds involved
Majority of PCCBs named list of shame are low
cadre of officials-See PCCB website-
Absence of sting and surgical operations on
corruption hot spots
PCCB complaints of the judiciaries failure to support
the warThe judges appear to have not yet mastered
the mechanics of trying corruption cases-DGs
comments
It takes around 684 days (two years) to prosecute
and try an election corruption case
 Statistical Table of Cases of Corruption in
Elections on Tanzania Mainland reported,
investigated before, during and after 2010
General Elections
1 Electoral Incidences Received 41

2 Number of cases filed in court 23

3 Number of cases concluded so far 18

4 Number of cases withdrawn 01

5 Number of cases pending in courts of law 04

6 The type of court verdicts for concluded cases

a)Convictions 7

b)Acquittals 11

7 Average number of days consumed per case 680

Interagency collaboration
No formalised relationship between PCCB and Parliament-It
appears PCCB is within the ambits of the Legal and
Constitutional Affairs committee-Not sure whether this is the
right home for PCCB at parliament

Challenges in invoking and enforcing Mutual Legal Assistance

Measures and extradition of criminals under section 54 of
PCCA
Changing nature of corruption and organised crime which has
moved away from the traditional design of PCCB as an
institution
New frontiers of corruption such as cyber crime and
transnational crime

Yet, there is poor International collaboration-Brazil has

succeeded in getting Switzerland to hand over information,
bank accounts, companies and assets owned by the corrupt
Tsars.
Conclusion
PCCB has an established nation wide
physical presence which is a model and
admirable to the whole world
However, the public view is that PCCB is
still yet to turn this physical infrastructure
into a gigantic wheel of armor to crush
corruption.
Need for continuous discussions on how to
improve the fight against corruption.
Recommendations
Strengthening agency status as a Constitutional body, tenure
of key staff
Strengthening inter agency collaboration
Strengthening Administrative and staff investigation and
prosecution capacity
Development of new operational techniques including modern
surveillance and sting operations on corruption prone areas
Strengthening international collaboration, including signing of
specific arrangements on corruption and transnational crime
Extend or enhance collaboration between PCCB and Zanzibar
anti corruption agencies
Expedite ratification of East African protocol on combating
corruption, African Charter on Democracy, Elections
andGovernance
What has been achieved
Establishment of the anti corruption court-
Yet to see its performance
Enacting of transparency laws-TEITA,
Whistle blowers Protection Act
Robust political will and Zero tolerance
against corruption by the 5th phase
government championed by President John
Pombe Magufuli and Prime Minister Kassim
Majaliwa
Parting points for further
discussion
What does PCCB want to become more
effective
What does PCCB want parliament to do
What does PCCB want the Judiciary to do
What resources does PCCB need
How does PCCB want to be seen in the next
future
How does Tanzania want to be seen in the
next future in its war on Corruption.