Public demand Anti Corruption Court

Source the African new paper 14 jan 2013

*Demand PCCB under Parliament
*Legal autonomy from DPP shackles

As graft and duplicity take root in the nation’s psyche, pundits want the agency revamped to restore the lost public trust with the citizens are demanding that time is now ripe to have a special anti corruption court established.

Specifically they want the bureaucratic web around the PCCB untangled and are calling for the agency to be given greater legal autonomy and a robust institution to process cases brought before it.

According to findings by the Anti Corruption Tracker System, which is hosted and managed by Agenda Participation 2000, PCCB has been a lame duck institution depending on the ‘mercy’ or ‘wisdom’ of the DPP and a slow judicial system, bogged down with unresolved cases and over loaded judges.

In an interview the University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM) lecturer Faraja Kristomus once told a local paper that the PCCB’s crusade against systemic corruption was being hampered by its “overlapping and uncoordinated links” with the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).

He further argues that the PCCB has no teeth, and wants the agency pulled to bits. “I think it should be dismantled, (or) at least the President shouldn’t have so much power over it. From the way those people work, we get the impression that they are afraid for their jobs,” he said.

In his view, an efficient anti-graft agency needs to have its head above water. “I suspect the PCCB works on someone’s orders, they are not independent. We need an autonomous body; one that is free to pursue corruption cases wherever they lead,” said Kristomus.

Advocate Bashangeki Mutalemwa takes the argument for an autonomous PCCB further, arguing that the agency should have the legal mandate to not only investigate, but also prosecute both petty and grand corruption cases.

He alleges the anti-graft crusaders (PCCB) are perceived as ineffective because they presently have no jurisdiction over grand corruption claims, according to him. Under current arrangements high-level, high-profile graft cases are handled by the office of the DPP.

“I’ve been to several forums on good governance and they have all had one common theme – the PCCB needs to be given more legal power. It’s the only way to make (the agency) more effective,” Advocate Mutalemwa said.

University of Dar es Salaam Political scientist, Dr. Benson Bana agrees. He wants the PCCB vested with the authority to directly prosecute high-level malfeasance and is calling for the establishment of a special court to adjudicate on corruption-related offences.

According to him, the war on corruption is too important to be left in the hands of a single government organ. The best way to tackle this “endemic vice,” he argues, is by shoring up the agency’s capacity to pursue its lofty aims and by getting all Tanzanians involved in the war on graft.

“The struggle against corruption demands active and proactive engagement of people from all walks of life, including actors in the public service, civil society organisations, faith-based organisations, leaders of political parties, the private sector as well as development partners,” said Dr Bana.

According to him the government has taken crucial steps to arrest corruption with initiatives such as the Prevention and Combating of Corruption Act, No. 11 of 2007 which among other things established the PCCB.

Dr Bana says the Kikwete administration needs to invest in the agency and its people. “The agency should be given more funding for operations since creating an anti-corruption institution is one thing, but managing its performance effectively is another ball game,” said the UDSM don.

Evarist Kagaruki who is a Political analyst based in Dar es Salaam, concurred with the shared views on the subject. He is of the opinion that freeing the PCCB from the executive will make the whole process of handling cases of grand corruption without being interfered or fear.

“Making the PCCB accountable to the Parliament will also make the organ be accountable to the people rather than to the head of the state who is the appointing authority of the PCCB boss,” Kagaruki observed.

Kagaruki says the current arrangement ties the PCCB boss to act without a kind of freedom should be exercised if the organ is answerable to the Parliament.

“There is no way PCCB can be effective unless the following measures are taken into account by making the PCCB free and independent institution, answerable to the Parliament.”

He wants PCCB to be given power to investigate and prosecute all corruption cases or create jurisdictions of cases that can solely be investigated and prosecuted by PCCB without seeking approval from the DPP. “Establish an independent, special court to deal with all cases of corruption.”

Rakesh Rajani of Twaweza says a radical shake-up of the PCCB will not necessarily improve Tanzania’s odds in the war on corruption. “One could call for the agency to be dismantled, but apart from generating dramatic publicity, it’s not clear how that will help Tanzania to effectively deal with corruption,” he said.

Instead, says Rajani, Tanzania should be looking to learn from nations that have succeeded in stamping out this cancerous vice.

“One may want to analyze underlying conditions that allow corruption to thrive and (look into) what we can learn from countries that have been successful at curbing graft,” said the civic organize

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