TANZANIA: ANTI-CORRUPTION DRIVE MARKS KIKWETE'S

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 DAR ES SALAAM 000696

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

DEPT AF/E FOR B YODER, C PELT, AF/RSA FOR J NAY, M HARPOLE
ALSO AF/EPS FOR M NORMAN, T HASTINGS
DRL/PHD FOR K GILBRIDE, DRL/CRA FOR S CRAMPTON
USAID FOR AF/W OFFICE
PASS TO MCC OFFICE FOR G BREVNOV, L BLACK

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM ECON EAID TZ
SUBJECT: TANZANIA: ANTI-CORRUPTION DRIVE MARKS KIKWETE'S
FIRST 120 DAYS IN OFFICE

REF: A. DAR ES SALAAM 0498

B. DAR ES SALAAM 0298

Summary
--------------

1. (SBU) As Jakaya Kikwete passed the 120-day mark of his
presidency, he continued to wage a sustained and very public
attack on alleged corruption, urging probes into persons and
institutions that for years enjoyed apparent immunity from
scrutiny under previous administrations. The press carried
reports that the government has frozen the foreign bank
accounts of former Prime Minister Sumaye, and the Tanzanian
ambassador to Rome is being recalled to face corruption
charges. Kikwete has given new life to the Public Corruption
Bureau, and Parliament has picked up on his message, calling
for several new investigations into alleged corrupt
practices, including those of Madam Mkapa, wife of the former
President. Kikwete is also urging the press to step up and
become a more effective institutional watchdog of Tanzanian
democracy. We believe, however, that the jury remains out.
While these are all highly encouraging signs, the ultimate
success of Kikwete's anti-corruption drive will be measured
by hard numbers -- the number of those relieved of their
posts, and the number of those investigated, prosecuted,
convicted, and jailed. End summary.

Words into Action
--------------

2. (U) Over the past four months, the Kikwete
administration's anti-corruption campaign has moved beyond
words to action including:

-- March 4, President Kikwete appointed a new Inspector
General of Police (IGP) with strong credentials who
immediately began restructuring the police force in an effort
to halt a wave of bank robberies and other high-stake crimes
that had been plaguing Dar es Salaam and Zanzibar for the
past six months.

-- March 8, twenty-eight persons, many of them influential
businessmen, suspected of financing or encouraging the crime
wave were identified by the police; several had been
important Kikwete campaign supporters. Two of these
businesspersons were arraigned March 7 and are currently out
on bail pending completion of police investigations.

-- March 31, the GOT formed a special task force composed of
the Tanzanian Peoples Defense Force, the Directorate of the
Tanzanian Intelligence Services and the Police Force to
intensify the war on crime.

-- In March, Tanzania's Ambassador to Italy, Prof. Costa
Mahalu, was relieved of his duties, stripped of diplomatic
immunity, and ordered to return to Dar es Salaam to cooperate
with the ongoing Public Corruption Bureau's (PCB)
investigation into missing funds of nearly USD 2 million that
were earmarked to purchase a new Tanzanian Embassy in Rome.

-- The PCB is also probing the operations and finances of
SIMU 2000, an offshoot of the Tanzania Telecommunications
Company Ltd (TTCL),that was formed after TTCL was
privatized. Allegations abound that SIMU was incorporated
illegally by certain high-placed officials.

-- April 10, the Minister of State for Regional
Administration and Local Government, announced the PCB would
begin a review of suspect local authority contracts and
examine the source of the amassed wealth of many district
council directors and other local officials.

Public Corruption Bureau Given "Teeth"
--------------

3. (U) In his monthly address to the nation on March 31,
President Kikwete challenged the Public Corruption Bureau
(PCB) to accelerate its anti-corruption efforts; he told the
Bureau to probe deeply and "send directly to me the list of
the highest-placed culprits" that PCB investigations
uncovered. Allegations of corruption at all levels of the

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GOT have persisted for years. The Public Corruption Bureau
was created during the administration of Benjamin Mkapa to be
the GOT's lead anti-corruption agency with a mandate to
investigate cases of corruption and refer them to the courts.


4. (SBU) Prior to the Kikwete's tenure, the PCB was
frequently accused of being ineffective by the press and NGO
watchdogs. As reported in post's 2005 Human Rights Report,
the prosecution of corruption cases was excruciatingly slow,
with the PCB often taking up to two years to investigate a
single case. Only about five percent of the corruption cases
referred to PCB regional offices made it to a court of law.
From 1995 to mid-2004, the PCB received 10,319 reports of
corruption and investigated 9,507 allegations; only 357 cases
were prosecuted and a mere 48 led to conviction. During
2005, no high-level government leaders were tried on
corruption charges.


5. (SBU) Since January 2006, the PCB has responded to the
President's anti-corruption call and begun to flex its
muscles. The PCB is proactively investigating not only
possible misuse of funds by the former Tanzania ambassador to
Italy, but systematically reviewing the contracting history
of local and district councils. Contracts and tenders as
well as construction projects and revenue collection will all
be examined. The investigations will extend to whether
wealth of certain local officials was obtained through
corruption or other illegal means. Should this top-down PCB
investigation on the order of Mizengo Pinda, the Minister of
State for Local Government, uncover any misdeeds, it is
unlikely the findings will languish for two or more years
before court action begins. April 13 Dar es Salaam press
reports indicate that the PCB also recently initiated
scrutiny of three sitting ministers and one deputy minister
(no names yet public); some are being asked to explain the
source of large sums of money in their personal bank accounts.


6. (U) In a district level meeting in Kilimanjaro district on
April 5, President Kikwete reiterated that the "leading
public enemy" is graft. He targeted in particular civil
servants who demand bribes for the services they are supposed
to give people free of charge and warned: "The days for such
officials are numbered."

New IGP Determined to Change Police Force Image
-------------- -

7. (SBU) As Kikwete took office, the police force was under
intense scrutiny for corrupt practices, particularly in face
of a wave of armed robberies over the past six months. The
Tanzanian and Zanzibar police forces have been severely
underpaid, with the policemen's monthly salaries often
deposited late, thus increasing the temptation to take
bribes, "rent out" weapons to robbers, or, in the worst
cases, become guns for hire. In a high-profile January 2006
case, fifteen Mainland police officers were accused of the
murder of four Dar es Salaam gemstone dealers. As of April
8, ten of these officers had been arrested and are being held
in pre-trial detention.


8. (SBU) The new Inspector General of Police (IGP),Said
Mwema, appointed by President Kikwete on March 3, moved into
his position with impressive credentials. A former Regional
Police Commissioner in Mbeya, he had headed up the regional
Interpol office in Nairobi, Kenya since 2003. Working
proactively from the moment he took the helm of the Tanzanian
police force on March 4, the IGP developed a plan to reduce
corruption opportunities for police officers. Mwema asked
for and received from the GOT an earmark of approximately USD
3 million as an incentive fund for the police force. The
monies first will settle the arrears in police officers'
salaries, with the remainder to be used for allowances and
incentive pay.


9. (U) The IGP announced April 4 the formation of a special
unit to monitor the activities of police officers to "stamp
out any elements who collude with gangsters." In addition,
Mwema said the GOT has set up a reward fund of USD 40,000 to
compensate citizens for tips that lead to solving a crime;

DAR ES SAL 00000696 003 OF 004


tips can be reported by phone or through a new interactive
website. In a April 7 announcement, the IGP published phone
numbers of all Regional Police Commissioners and encouraged
the public to use the numbers to report crimes or suspect
activities.

Press Rising to the Occasion
--------------

10. (SBU) During a March 9 visit to the Ministry of
Information and Communications, Kikwete told journalists
their responsibility is to maintain a high standard of
excellence. He then directed his Cabinet to "give
journalists the information they need to keep the public
informed" about what each ministry is doing. Kikwete's
attitude is in noticeable contrast to that of the Mkapa
administration, where few reporters had access to ministry
officials and many GOT officials would only answer written
questions from the media, sending their responses weeks or
months later. Since President Kikwete took office, several
daily and weekly journals have taken a much more aggressive
stance in reporting on corruption in parastatals
organizations or by individuals, including:

-- Calling for probes into the financial transactions of both
the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) and the Public
Servants Pension Fund (Note: Allegations abound that these
pension funds have been invested in dubious deals, possibly
jeopardizing citizens' retirement benefits. End note.);

-- Exposing possible mismanagement by the Tanzanian Ports
Authority including gross embezzlement and the purchase of
obsolete machinery at extremely high prices;

-- Closely scrutinizing the Tanzanian Revenue Authority for
possible financial mismanagement; and

-- Reporting that foreign bank accounts of the Prime Minister
under former President Mkapa, Frederick Sumaye, have been
frozen by the GOT pending investigation and could be worth
over USD hundreds of millions of dollars.

The "Real Debate"
--------------

11. (SBU) The reaction to this investigative reporting by the
accused persons or agencies has been predictably swift.
Yusuf Manji, the Corporate Director of Quality Plaza, who was
implicated by the press as involved in suspect NSSF deals,
has sued Reginald Mengi, an important media owner, for USD 10
million over "false allegations" made by Mengi's newspaper.
PM Sumaye reacted similarly, suing the owners of the weekly
"Tanzania Leo" for USD 10 million as well for its report on
his finances, and demanding an apology.


12. (SBU) While these actions are clearly intended to
intimidate the press, the editorial pages of the newspapers
have not remained silent. The April 2 "Sunday Citizen"
editor commented on Yusuf Manji's suit against media-owner
Mengi thusly: "It would indeed be a sad venture if the media
that has found new life under the new, vibrant President were
to be cowed by unwarranted litigations and sent back to dark
days of reporting only that which politicians say." The
editor of "This Day" called April 7 for the press and the
public to stay focused on the key issue: "As these two
businessmen war in the civil courts, the public must not be
swayed from the real debate--pension funds must explain how
they invest people's retirement benefits."

Parliament Speaks Up
--------------

13. (SBU) The newly-elected and expanded 323-seat parliament
has also become more vocal on corruption during the third
Parliamentary session (March 27 to April 10). Several
committees initiated investigations into:

-- The high construction costs of the new Bank of Tanzania
building which could reach nearly six times the original
estimates. While the project overseers claimed that much of
the inflated cost is due to a slide in the value of the

DAR ES SAL 00000696 004 OF 004


Tanzanian shilling, Members of Parliament (MPs) are asking
for thorough scrutiny of apparently-excessive cost increases;

-- Finance and Economic Committee began an investigation into
how former First Lady Anna Mkapa's NGO--the Equal Opportunity
for All Trust Fund (EOTF)--was allowed to purchase a cashew
nut factory in Mtwara contrary to the law. As a tax-exempt
NGO, EOTF is not permitted to own or operate businesses; and

-- On April 3, the Parliament called for an investigation
into the use of the Tanzanian Social Action Fund (TASAF)
created in 2003 to carry out poverty-alleviation projects.
While the previous Parliament had approved TASAF Phase 2 in
May 2005, the new MPs are now calling for a probe into
allegations that district council officials may have misused
the fund to construct houses or buy cars. Both ruling party
and opposition MPs are concerned over suspect auditing
procedures and that a high proportion of the TASAF funds went
to pay for advisors and consultants rather than create jobs
or micro-finance projects.

Quick response from executive side
--------------

14. (U) On April 4, the executive branch responded to the
MP's call for a TASAF investigation: the Minister of State on
Policy and Coordination, Juma Akukweti, reaffirmed the
government's determination to fight poverty and to take tough
measures against local officials who impede the
implementation of TASAF. Akukweti announced that in Phase 2,
district commissioners would no longer chair committees that
administer TASAF funds: "From now on the council financial
committees would manage all projects; if anything goes wrong,
the entire committee would be responsible," Akukweti stated.

Comment
--------------

15. (SBU) Kikwete's vocal calls for action against corruption
have not only sparked greater independence and investigative
reporting in the press, but strengthened the institutional
voice of Parliament. This, we think, bodes well for
Tanzania's liberal democracy. From the time of President
Nyerere, Tanzania's Executive branch has dominated, while the
Legislative and Judicial branches wielded little influence
and the press was largely silent on issues of corruption.
Thus, the checks and balances of a thriving, liberal
democracy remained weak. Kikwete appears to be laying the
beginnings of a foundation to strengthen democratic
institutions. If his efforts extend into the judicial
system, widely acknowledged as corrupt and inefficient, this
would bode well not only for Tanzania's democracy, but also
for its business and investment climate.


16. (SBU) The litmus test for corruption, however, will
remain the hard numbers of arrests and convictions. On this,
the jury remains out. To date, while many investigations
have commenced, no high-placed officials or GOT agencies have
been charged with graft, misuse of funds or other wrongdoing.

RETZER