Tanzania’s Tough War On Graft

Is Tanzania stepping up its fight against corruption? Or is President Jakaya Kikwete losing control over the ruling party?
Prime Minister Edward Lowassa and two members of his cabinet resigned last week after parliament issued a report criticizing their role in the “Richmond affair.” This is the second high-profile anti-corruption scandal to hit the country in two months.
Amid a drought-induced severe decline in hydroelectric power generation in 2006, the government awarded US-based Richmond Development Company a contract to supply 100 megawatts of emergency power.
The $172 million deal sparked a controversy, with concerns swirling around alleged violations of official tendering procedures and the failure to insist on a performance bond.
A parliamentary committee was set up in November 2007 to investigate the contract. It, too, criticized the arrangement. The panel said Richmond, which failed to deliver the 100 MW of power, lacked experience, expertise, and was financially incapacitated.
The committee criticized the role of senior government officials, including Prime Minister Lowassa. He denies wrongdoing, claiming the committee has misled parliament.
The parliamentary report and resignations comes at a time when President Kikwete is attempting to burnish his government’s reputation on the anti-corruption front. Donors, who fund up to 40 percent of Tanzania’s budget, have become more critical over the misuse of aid in the past year.
Pressing for political accountability, they are paying close attention to the Richmond case. Moreover, Tanzania is one of the main recipients of rising aid flows to Africa.
In December, the president dismissed the central bank governor, Daudi Ballali, after an investigation uncovered fraud in the repayment of external debts.
The latest resignations will bolster Kikwete’s argument that he is committed to tackling graft. But at what price? The loss of the three ministers – known as close associates of the president – could represent a waning of Kikwete’s position in the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) party.
A recent contest for positions in the CCM secretariat exposed deep fissures in the ruling party. Some of President Kikwete’s important allies lost their positions.
A scheduled cabinet reshuffle can be expected to provide further evidence of the balance of power within the CCM – as well as the fate of the anti-corruption campaign.