Fight corruption by strengthening human rights!
Yesterday was the international anticorruption-day. Today we celebrate the International Human Rights day.
Probably it is a coincidence that these two international days are placed back to back with each other, but it certainly makes some sense. Corruption is an evil – intolerable and indefensible – constantly undermining fundamental human rights that needs to be addressed in all countries. It blocks the student to attend university if he does not pay a bribe to get the health exam that should be free of cost, it blocks the sick woman from being attended to if her husband cannot pay a bribe, it stops the poor farmer from claiming justice in court when he is asked to bribe his way through the system. I have heard many examples from Tanzanians as well as citizens of other countries that meet the challenge of corruption in their daily lives. At the same time it is encouraging that the international mobilisation to fight corruption has gained significant momentum not least through the UN Convention (UNCAC).
It is not difficult to detect the presence of corruption in a society, less easy to measure it. For Tanzania it certainly must be an issue of concern that the country has been slipping in the two latest public perception surveys from Transparency International (while the so called Mo Ibrahim governance index was more favourable).
One explanation given at the recent Annual National Policy Dialogue was the increased openness and media debate about especially grand corruption, making it more present in people’s minds. Maybe so. And that openness should certainly be factored in – not as part of the problem but as part of the solution.
But the reality is challenging enough: People do not seem to be feeling that corruption is decreasing which obviously should be the desired trend. Andpeople also report direct experience of corruption affecting themselves in their daily lives to a much too high degree.
What is the way forward?
There are no simple solutions to address corruption. But it is clear that it must become significantly more difficult both to be corrupt and to get away with it – on all levels. Creating a hostile environment for corruption means i.a. strengthening the democratic structure and the democratic culture with robust domestic systems for accountability, transparency and financial management. These systems constitute the checks and balances to deter misuse of power which are at the core of corruption at all levels whether a grand corruption case - like the ones surfacing the last years - or a case of petty corruption involving a traffic policeman choosing an illegal way to increase his income.
Several development partners like Sweden have moved to general budget support not least for these reasons. We want to support the development of Tanzanian systems for policy formulation and for financial management and control. Funds going directly into the budget have the advantage to be subject to normal Tanzanian processes – first the democratic process where Parliament decide on priorities, then through Tanzanian administrative procedures. To improve them then becomes our joint focus. We should not force Tanzania to waste scarce capacity on using systems imposed by us and thus neglecting the domestic ones.
In a partnership of this kind reforms are needed on both sides. And I have certainly been able to report back home not only about alleged and revealed corruption cases but also on some encouraging trends. On the positive side we find the free media debate, the important reforms of Parliament strengthening its oversight role, more effective legislation and institutions like the National Audit Office significantly improved. And also legal action taken in some high profile cases.
Obviously one important question for an Ambassador is what is needed for him or her to continue making the case for a substantial aid programme and for a continued high level of general budget support. And that challenge is increasingly there in all countries all over the world. Credible efforts and results in the fight against corruption are absolutely essential.
But reforms should not primarily be done for outsiders like us, they should be put in place and implementation speeded up in the interest of Tanzanians and in the interest of fighting poverty. That goes not least for the legal sector as well as the development of public financial management.
In my opinion however one of the single most important elements in a hostile environment for corruption – too often neglected – is a radically widened right to information for all citizens. The right to information is part of the UN Declaration of human rights and thus in itself an essential part of democracy. But in combination with a free, high quality investigative journalism and protection of whistle blowers it is also an indispensable tool for fighting corruption and outright theft.
That kind of transparency is preventive in itself. When politicians and civil servants know that all their actions must stand to be scrutinised publicly they are likely to think twice before behaving in an unethical way. But transparency is also key to an efficient system of holding people to account. It nurtures a well informed public debate in contrast to rumours and gossip easily flourishing in a culture of secrecy and it creates the basis for parliamentary oversight and for ordinary citizens to challenge local decision makers.
I seldom hear anyone explicitly arguing against these ideas. But almost equally seldom I hear anyone tell me that they are effectively put into practice. Making the right to information a reality would be one of the best possible ways to follow up the messages from yesterday and today. Fighting corruption by strengthening human rights.
Staffan Herrström, Ambassador of Sweden to Tanzania