Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07DARESSALAAM1555
2007-11-30 10:25:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Dar Es Salaam
Cable title:  

TANZANIA: DONORS INCREASINGLY WARY OF CORRUPTION

Tags:  EAID PREL PGOV ECON TZ 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO1561
PP RUEHDU RUEHMR RUEHRN
DE RUEHDR #1555/01 3341025
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 301025Z NOV 07
FM AMEMBASSY DAR ES SALAAM
TO RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AF DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHDS/AMEMBASSY ADDIS ABABA PRIORITY 3263
RUEHJB/AMEMBASSY BUJUMBURA PRIORITY 2608
RUEHKM/AMEMBASSY KAMPALA PRIORITY 3096
RUEHLGB/AMEMBASSY KIGALI PRIORITY 1043
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON PRIORITY 0350
RUEHNR/AMEMBASSY NAIROBI PRIORITY 0856
RUEHOT/AMEMBASSY OTTAWA PRIORITY 0840
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS PRIORITY 0259
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEHLMC/MCC WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 DAR ES SALAAM 001555 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS
SENSITIVE

DEPT FOR AF/E MBEYZEROV, AF/EPS FOR ABREITER
AID WASHINGTON FOR AF OFFICE
MCC FOR KFICKENSCHER, MKAVANAGH
ADDIS FOR AU MISSION
LONDON AND PARIS FOR AFRICA WATCHERS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/16/2017
TAGS: EAID PREL PGOV ECON TZ
SUBJECT: TANZANIA: DONORS INCREASINGLY WARY OF CORRUPTION

REF: A. DAR ES SALAAM 1500

B. DAR ES SALAAM 1009

DAR ES SAL 00001555 001.2 OF 003


Classified By: Deputy Chief of Mission D. Purnell Delly for
reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).

Summary
-------
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 DAR ES SALAAM 001555

SIPDIS

SIPDIS
SENSITIVE

DEPT FOR AF/E MBEYZEROV, AF/EPS FOR ABREITER
AID WASHINGTON FOR AF OFFICE
MCC FOR KFICKENSCHER, MKAVANAGH
ADDIS FOR AU MISSION
LONDON AND PARIS FOR AFRICA WATCHERS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/16/2017
TAGS: EAID PREL PGOV ECON TZ
SUBJECT: TANZANIA: DONORS INCREASINGLY WARY OF CORRUPTION

REF: A. DAR ES SALAAM 1500

B. DAR ES SALAAM 1009

DAR ES SAL 00001555 001.2 OF 003


Classified By: Deputy Chief of Mission D. Purnell Delly for
reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).

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

1. (SBU) In recent months, opposition leaders and the press
have continued to batter the Kikwete administration with
allegations of "grand corruption" at the senior-most levels
of government related to the Bank of Tanzania, gold mining
contracts, the "Richmond" power generation scandal, and a
host of other high-profile corruption cases. Earlier this
month the Director of the Prevention and Combating of
Corruption Bureau was himself under attack in the press and
on various Kiswahili internet sites. For the first time,
donors have begun to raise questions about the magnitude of
their assistance levels in the absence of genuine measures to
confront corruption, aware that their respective governments
and taxpayers may ultimately raise the same concerns. Donors
engaged in direct budget support have expressed their
concerns more forcefully that ever before to the government,
insisting on greater transparency and better performance
measures for their assistance. At the conclusion of the most
recent donor review, the UK High Commissioner suggested
future aid levels could actually be reduced.


2. (SBU) For our part, Ambassador Green has emphasized
repeatedly in public statements that the MCC Compact is not a
grant, but rather a package of reciprocal responsibilities,
including a satisfactory grade on the corruption index each
year over the five-year life of pact. He has also pointed to
the corrosive effects of corruption on governance, while
praising President Kikwete for creating a political climate
in which a generally free press can investigate and expose
malfeasance. We are concerned that indicators lag

perceptions, and the perceptions here, both among donors and
Tanzanians on the street, are that corruption is a growing
problem, and that the political will may not exist to tackle
it. If there is a silver lining to all this, it is that
President Kikwete seems to appreciate the change in
perceptions here, and has vowed to take concrete measures
shortly to signal corruption in his government will no longer
be tolerated. End Summary.

Donors Call for Answers to Corruption Allegations
-------------- --------------

3. (U) In a public statement on September 20, Dutch
Ambassador Karel van Kestern became the first in a line of
high-level officials from the donor community to address the
recent barrage of corruption allegations against the GOT (Ref
A),calling on the Kikwete administration to "issue timely
and robust responses to the various allegations." In his
statement, and in several subsequent interviews, Amb. van
Kestern specifically referred to allegations of corruption
contained in the "List of Shame" (Ref A) and specific
instances of graft at the Bank of Tanzania (Ref B). He
further noted that responses to the allegations against top
officials are necessary to send positive signals to potential
investors, governments, and taxpayers in donor countries.


4. (U) Shortly after, Belgian Ambassador and Chief EU
Representative Peter Maddens publicly expressed
disappointment that the GOT had failed to issue a
comprehensive statement regarding the allegations, even
though "in a democracy, the government is held to a higher
standard than the opposition." German Charge d'Affaires Ingo
Herbert called on the GOT to "give its side of the story as
soon as it possibly can."


5. (U) On October 29, at a meeting of the 14 donors that
provide general budget support to Tanzania (Britain, Canada,
Denmark, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Japan, Norway, Sweden,
Switzerland, The Netherlands, the World Bank, the EU, and the
African Development Bank),British High Commissioner Philip

DAR ES SAL 00001555 002.2 OF 003


Parham called on the GOT to strengthen accountability and
combat corruption. High Commissioner Parham noted that it is
important that the Kikwete administration be seen to
proactively address the allegations made against it, explain
where the allegations are misconceived, and prosecute where
evidence warrants. He further stated that development
partners feel less confident about Tanzania than they did a
year ago.


6. (U) The above are but a few examples of statements
concerning corruption in general, as well as concerning the
specific allegations of grand corruption within the Kikwete
administration, that have been made over the past twelve
weeks by high-ranking officials from various donor countries
and organizations.

U.S. Mission Public Response
--------------

7. (SBU) During the same period, our own public message
regarding corruption has focused on two areas. First, the
Ambassador and other Mission representatives have provided
strong public encouragement to the press, as local
journalists continue to publish detailed and sometimes
inflammatory investigative reports. The key theme of this
message has been that a thriving, free press as an essential
pillar of a liberal democracy, coupled with praise for
President Kikwete and the GOT for maintaining an atmosphere
of press freedom. Ambassador Green was widely quoted in the
press after an October 31 event in which he commended
journalists for their work, praised Tanzania as a place where
the government respects press freedom and encourages scrutiny
from the public, and encouraged the media to support
President Kikwete's fight against corruption.


8. (SBU) Second, regarding Tanzania's MCC Compact (which
numerous GOT officials, including Finance Minister Zakia
Meghji, have publicly suggested is a signal that the U.S.
considers Tanzania to be free of corruption),Ambassador
Green and Mission representatives have stressed that the
Compact is a partnership through which the U.S. and Tanzania
can work to reduce poverty and promote transparency and
accountability in government. The Mission has continually
reminded its GOT counterparts, as well as the press, that the
Compact will be evaluated each year, specifically focusing on
the corruption/accountability indicator. Ambassador Green
has been widely quoted in the local press on this issue,
likening the signing of an MCC compact to a wedding and the
five-year Compact relationship to a marriage, stating "A
wedding is easy, but a marriage is hard." This statement in
particular has become so identifiable with the Mission's
message on corruption that a major Dar es Salaam newspaper
recently repeated the Ambassador's analogy in a political
cartoon in which one figure ("U.S.") hands another figure
("GOT") a bag labeled "$698". MCC Resident Country Director
Karl Fickenscher has been widely quoted in the local press
delivering the same message.

Public Reaction
--------------

9. (C) As reported (Ref A),the public has become
increasingly frustrated at perceived corruption within the
GOT, and with a perceived lack of resolve on the President's
part to fight graft within his administration. At present,
the press is doing more to fight corruption in Tanzania than
any other segment of society, and the press is certainly
doing more than the GOT itself. While a few editorials have
criticized the donors for meddling in internal affairs by
"attaching conditions" to aid, the press has largely used the
donors' remarks as a vehicle to continue their reporting on
corruption in the GOT. Both media and public opinion has
been far from critical of such statements, appearing to
breathe a collective sigh of relief that someone in a
respected position is speaking what is on the minds of so
many Tanzanians.


10. (C) Reaction to Ambassador Green's and the U.S. Mission's

DAR ES SAL 00001555 003.2 OF 003


statements has been extremely positive. This is in part
because the public shares our concerns; in part because the
press appreciates strong support from the USG for its own
freedoms; and in part because the Mission's statements have
not taken the blunter edge that other donors' statements
have, but instead have praised President Kikwete's commitment
to tackle corruption, while making clear we nevertheless
await concrete results, and are concerned that the $698 MCC
Compact could hang in the balance if the corruption indicator
reverses direction.

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

11. (C) There is a sea change underway here in the public
perception of corruption. Ironically, this is because of the
robust climate President Kikwete has created for a free
press. It is also a result of globalization, and the
proliferation of computers, e-mail, and even blogs here. The
most damning allegations involving corruption at the Bank of
Tanzania were circulated by e-mail together with attachments
of actual spreadsheets from the Bank. The recent allegations
leveled at the Director of the Prevention and Combating of
Corruption Bureau appeared first on blogs, many of which are
maintained by expatriates. In some senses, perhaps
politicians here realize it is becoming too late to clamp
down on the press, given the startling speed with which
information -- including corruption allegations -- spreads on
the internet.
GREEN