LEADERSHIP AND ADMINISTRATIVE

RESPONSIBILITY

OTHER ESSENCE PARTS

PUBLIC SERVICE

PUBLIC SERVICE ETHICS

PUBLIC SERVICE INTEGRITY

PROFESSIONALISM

ENFORCEMENT OF LEADERSHIP ETHICS AND

ENTEGRITY

SERVICE CHARTER

CORRUPTION

PREPARED BY: CHARLES J.

MWAMTOBE

CONTACT:

charzy03@gmail,com

FROM: TANZANIA

INTRODUCTION

THE AIM OF THIS DOCUMENT IS TO PROVIDE THE RELATIONSHIP THA EXIST

BETWEEN LEADERS AND THEIR DUTIES. WITHSTANDING WITH THE ETHICAL

CODES THA GOVERN THEM IN THEIR DAY-TO-DAY ACTIVITIES.

NEVERTHELESS THE DOCUMENT PROVIDE WHAT WILL HAPPEN IF LEADERS DO

NOT PLAY THEIR PART RESPONSIBLY, WHAT ARE THE IMPART TO THE

SOCIETY AND NATION IN GENERAL

LEADERSHIP

LEADERSHIP is the activity of leading a group of people or an

organization or the ability to do this, Leadership involves

establishing a clear vision,

sharing that vision with others so that they will follow

willingly,

providing the information ,knowledge and methods to realize

that vision, and

coordinating and balancing the conflicting interests of all

members and stakeholders

A leader is "a person who influences a group of people towards

the achievement of a goal". A leader by its meaning is one who

goes first and leads by example, so that others are motivated to

follow him. This is a basic requirement. To be a leader, a person

must have a deep-rooted commitment to the goal that he will

strive to achieve it even if nobody follows him!

A public service is a service which is provided by government to

people living within its jurisdiction, either directly (through

the public sector) or by financing provision of services. That

certain service should be available to all, regardless of income.

Even where public services are neither publicly provided nor

publicly financed, for social and political reasons they are

usually subject to regulation going beyond that applying to most

economic sectors

Public services are seen as so important that for moral reasons

their universal provision should be guaranteed. They may be

associated with fundamental human rights (such as the right to

water). In modern, developed countries, the term public service

often includes some of them are:

Electricity

Education

Emergency services

Environmental protection

Fire service

Health care

Ethics in public service it deals with the what is good and wrong

behavior, it evaluate conduct against some absolute criteria and

puts negative or positive value on it(According Hanekom

1984:58).Is usually considered a branch of political ethics which

address the fundamental premises of a public administrators duty

“Stewad”to the public.

Ethics has to with the action of man and therefore, it requires

adjustment in the action and attitudes of the public managers in

relation to his colleagues and the public as well as in relation

to himself. (Heynes 1986)

Ethics code of conducts

In order a public service to be efficient and respected public

servant must behave and conduct themselves in manner as

stipulated below:

Respect all Human and be courteous, A public Servant has

right of being a member of any Political party and can

vote both for his/her political party and in general

election, not only that even in the issue of religion to

become member of any religious.

Perform diligently and in a disciplined manner, for

efficient performance a public servant will perform his/her

duties diligently and with a high degree of discipline.

Example like Obey and effect lawful directives, carry out

assigned duties efficiently

Promote team work, Public servant will strive to promote

team work by offering help to co-employees whenever the need

so arises. It will be achieve by the Giving instruction

which are clear and undistorted. Ensuring that subordinated

clear understand the scope of their work and encourage them

Pursue excellence in service, Since the public services is

geared towards provision of excellent service, public

servants will do that strive to achieve the highest standard

of performance, strive to acquire new knowledge and skills

continuously and use hem effectively

Exercise responsibility and good stewardship, A public

servant shall act within boundaries of the authority and

responsibility delegated, in doing so shall make decision in

line with authorized standards and procedures

Promote transparency and accounatblty, a public servant will

adhere to and practice meritocratic principles in

appointments, promotions and while delivering any

service .He/she will be accountable both for actions and

inactions through normal tiers of authority

Principles of managing Ethics in the public service

Ethical standard for public services should be clear, There

should be a concern well publicized statement of core ethical

stand aid and principles that guide public services ignored to

conduct work in ethic manner. Example by using code of ethics as

a manner of ethical standard

Ethical standard should be reflected in the legal framework

Legal framework of public servant should be basic way of

communicating them in a minimum obligatory standard and principle

of behaviors’ for every public servant,. There should be laws

polices which regulate which regulates conducts of public

servant, Also laws and regulation should be stated to the basic

value of public service guidance for displinary action

PROFESSIONALISM AND PUBLIC SERVICE INTEGRITY

Professionalism refers to the high standard that you accept from

a person who is well trained in a particular job or career,

(Zombwe and Mshiu2006) .It is referred to the competence of using

skills in a field of work .It can be also defined as the over all

values that encompasses

loyalty,neutrality,transparency,punctuarity,effectiveness and

impartiality . Professionalism to be professional is to

understand the importance of our jobs in the public sector, to

have respect for ourselves and the organizations that we

represent, and to act accordingly. Each individual is to deal

with issues, whether positive or negative, in a mild and

straightforward manner whenever possible. Without professionalism

in public administration, the overall perception of our work and

our organizations would undoubtedly falter.

Public ethics, these are values that an administrator is supposed

to have, high degree of moral standards by displaying integrity,

and be mindful of laws and regulations in order to successfully

practice and promote transparency of government, (Gichure 1997).

The word ethics comes from the Greek word ethos, meaning

something like ‘morals’. Guy (1990:06), views ethics as

different from etiquette because it goes beyond mere social

convention. In fact, ethics is de ned as the systematicfi

re ection on what is moral where as morality being the whole offl

opinions, decisions and actions with which people express what

they think is good or right. The field of ethics (or moral

philosophy) involves systematizing, defending, and recommending

concepts of right and wrong behavior. Morality is also greatly

influenced by upbringing, parents, other relatives” influence,

religion, school and geographic region.

Integrity is a concept of consistency of action, values, methods,

measures, principles, expectations and its outcome. Integrity is

regarded as the honesty and truthfulness or accuracy of one's

actions. Integrity can be regarded as the opposite of hypocrisy,

{Pfiffner and Presthus 1960}. It is sometimes referred as the

adherence to ethical principles, rules and regulations. A public

servant or a civil servant must be up right with very good

behavior and unchallenged caliber .One should exercise fairness

in decision making, careful in the use of public properties and

avoid any circumstances leading into corruption . Public servant

fulfill all these by adhering to the set of rules which are

provided according to the professions. The professions like

medical and teaching each has its code of ethics and conduct.

WHY ENFORCEMENT OF PROFESSIONALISM AND INTEGRITY IN PUBLIC

SERVICE ETHICS?

The importance of enforcing professionalism and integrity to the

public administrators in an organization, firms, and institutions

are as follows:

It ensure proper decision making in public administration, the

enforcement of professionalism, public ethics and integrity

ensures proper decision making in public administration since no

public servant will be serving out of his or her professionals’

morals and ethics in attending daily duties as public servant.

For example dealing with the case of servant who misbehave in an

office in taking any decision the administrator will consult the

professional code of conduct that is proper way of decision

making, Basu (1990).

Effective utilization of the available resources, moral

administrators use cooperate together in performing organization

works which enhance interaction as it become easier to the

utilization of the resources which at the end promote to the

effectiveness of the organization. Also when there is

professionalism employee will have sense of responsibility and

accountability to the firm and therefore they will be utilizing

the resources effectively without unnecessary wastage of

resources hence the achievement of the organization goal hence

firm grows faster due to maintenance of resources, (Henry (2007)

It increase team work among the workers, this is because

professionalism and integrity creates trust between members of

the administration and creates more collaboration among team work

due to the behavior and good attitude towards their work. Hence

lead to effective performance of works in an organization because

every person is able to control his/ her behavior due to the

fundamental of public ethics, (Pfiffner and Presthus1960)

Creates more productivity in an organization, due to competence

in work, personal ethics and integrity, it increases creativity

and productivity of products and reaching goals of respective

targeted goals. Due to competence in administration it promotes

efficiency of work due to division of labor and delegation of

power to different people. For example in Mzumbe university there

is division of labor that forms systematic and effective

performance of works in an organization, (Pfiffner and

Presthus1960)

Professionalism support managers in leading discussion on ethics

and integrity by providing practical tool and technical, these

may include worksheet or case studies based in real and relevant

organizational for instance which helps manager raise ethical

dilemmas and engage their staff in ethical discussion. Also it

coordinates the meeting in order to solve several problems which

hinder the organization. For example; if there is matter which

rises or faces in the organization, the manager should call the

meeting to discuss that matter professionally in order to solve

the problem earlier, (Pfiffner and Presthus(1960)

Encourage good performance ; the enforcement of professionalism,

public ethics and integrity it help in improving of performing

daily duties in providing public services among the public

servant since the public administrator they are forced not to

work out of their professional regulations and public ethic that

also improve the performance as they basically aim to ensure

smooth running of public activities. For example workers as so

longer they follow their professional regulation and code of

ethics they are ensured of job security that can improve

performance, (Basu 1990)

Minimize conflict; conflicts are misunderstanding, it can be

intra or inter personal misunderstanding. Workers who respect

each other boundaries and conduct themselves professionally

rarely have disagreements that cannot be resolved efficiently.

Professionalism in business also benefits diverse environments in

which business people and their clients have several different

perspectives and opinions. Professional behavior helps business

people avoid offending members of different cultures or

backgrounds, (Pfiffner and Presthus1960)

Promote Respect among members in an institution ; due to the

professionalism, ethical behavior and integrity in an

organization establishes respect for authority figures, clients

and co-workers. In an organization there are different activities

which need different professionals, so everyone in an

organization has the crucial duty which depend to each other.

Hence they try to their level best to respect each other in order

to maintain the ethical behavior in organization. For example in

the organization if the manager is very honest, truthfully it

creates the good image to the workers so the workers may respect

that manager and themselves, (Basu1990).

Professionalism in public administration encourages more

effective invention and innovation; this is the process of

obtaining new method or ways of performing a certain duty. Since

the organizations have well skilled personnel it provides a room

for invention and innovation of new things. For example the

innovation of new database which support the installation of more

data so this may lead to the effectiveness of work in the

management because the innovation helps the management to

progress.

Maintain Accountability; professionally a person with integrity

must be accountable to any job assigned to him or her. As being

responsible one is promoted to self motivation in focusing

different challenges in the process of administration. Hence

motivates one on being accountable in performing different tasks.

With a state of being accountable to different task one is

ethical because he fulfills duties assigned to. One is more

respected due to the outcomes of positive results of completing

duties, (Pfiffner and Presthus1960).

Therefore, professionalism, public ethics and integrity are

fundamentals of public administration. All these play a great

role to the successfulness or achievement of the pre determined

goals within an organization. As a manager you should apply those

fundamental in office in order to improve efficiency,

accountability, transparency and remove all loophole for

corruption. Behind core values is the creation, implementation

and enforcement of a code of conduct. A code of conduct is a more

detailed listing of both required and prohibited behaviors for

all team members.

ENFORCEMENT OF LEADERSHIP ETHICS AND ENTEGRITY

Leadership Ethics

Ethical Leadership Principles

In this section, we present five principles that are believed to

lead to the development of ethical leadership. These are respect

for others, service to others, justice for others, honesty toward

others, and building community with others (DuBrin, 2010;

Northouse, 2013).

Respect for Others: Ethical leaders treat others with dignity and

respect. This means that they treat people as ends in themselves

rather than as means to their own ends. This form of respect

recognizes that followers have goals and ambitions and confirms

followers as human beings who have worth and value to the

organization.

Service to Others: Ethical leaders serve others. They behave in

an altruistic fashion rather than ethical egoism. These leaders

put followers first – their prime reason for being is to support

and nurture subordinates, (Kanungo & Mendonca, 1996).

Justice for Others: Ethical leaders ensure that justice and

fairness are central parts of their decision making. This means

treating all subordinates in very similar ways, except when there

is a very clear need for differential treatment and there is

transparency about why this need exists

Honesty towards others: Ethical leadership requires honesty

whereby dishonesty destroys trust. and honesty increases trust

and builds the leader–follower relationship. This means balancing

openness with disclosing only what is appropriate.

Public leader simply means any person holding any of the

following public offices includes Presidents, Vice President,

Prime Minister, Ministers and Deputy Ministers, Chief Secretary,

Permanent Secretaries and alike in accordance to Section 4 of the

The Public Leadership Code of Ethics Act No. 13 of 1995.

Structure of Ethics for Public Leaders

Tanzania Public Ethics Framework is enshrined under:

1. Constitution of the United Republic of Tanzania, 1977 as

amended

Public Leaders Secretariat

2. Statutory Framework:

The Public Code of Ethics Act, Cap 398 (1995)

The Public Service Act, Cap. 298 (2000).

The Public Code of Ethics and Conduct, 2005

The Local Government Acts

Professional Codes

Enforcement of Leadership ethics & integrity in Tanzania

Enforcement of leadership are divided into two categories namely

Internal and External Enforcements.

1. Internal enforcement

Constitution: Established the Public Leaders Secretariat

under Article 132(1) of the Constitution of United Republic

of Tanzania, 1977 as amended charged with the power to

inquiry into the behaviour and conduct of any public leader

for the purpose of ensuring while discharging their duties

comply with provisions of laws.

Ethics Inspection Unit: the unit established in 1998 with

the purpose of promoting ethics in the Public Service along

with implementation of the Code of Ethics and Conduct for

Public Service. The currently Code of Ethics and Conduct for

Public Service was issued by the President’s Office Public

Service Management in 11th January, 2005.

The Public Leaders Code of Ethics Act No. 13 of 1995

(Cap.398): Under Section 6. of the Act the Code of Ethics

for public leaders shall seek as far possible to institute

and invoke the following principles in respect of the

conduct of public leaders.

a) Public leaders uphold highest ethical standards

while is in office so as to bring confidence and

trust in the public service;

b) that public leaders shall have obligations:-

(i) to perform their official duties and

arrange their private affairs in a manner

that would bear the closest public scrutiny,

an obligation that is not fully discharged

by simply acting lawfully;

(ii) established a procedure for declaration

of all property or assets owned by, or

liabilities owned to him, his spouse or

unmarried minor children, without prejudice

to the right of wives and husbands of public

leaders to own properly independently of

their spouses;

c) Uphold the Rule of Law;

d) Leader’s private interest should not undermine

government action;

e) Avoid conflict of interest;

f) Avoid gifts and other economic benefits;

g) Avoid preferential treatment to any person;

h) Use public property for public benefit;

i) Keep information secretly;

Legislations: under The Public Service Act No.8 of 2002

and its Public Service Regulations, 2003 authorized

establishment of Code of Good Conduct and Practice which

specify the standard of integrity and conduct or ethics

to be observed by public officials.

Codes of Professional Conduct.: there are various

professional codes to be followed by respective

profession. For example Code of Professional Teachers,

Doctors &Nurses, Phamasist, Engineers, and alike.

2. External enforcement

Ombdusman: The Commission for Human Rights and Good

Governance (CHRGG) under Article 129 of the Constitution

of United Republic Of Tanzania, 1977 as amended which

combines the features of an Ombudsman institution with

those of a National Human Rights Institution was

inaugurated in March 2002, headed by a Judge of Court

Appeal, Hon. Manento J, charged with the duty to promote

human rights through civic education and to investigate

human rights violations.

Political enforcement: These control public leaders and

public service at large through pressure from voters &

opposition parties. For example of EPA and Richmond much

pressure raised from political leaders to enforce public

leaders to take action.

The media & public scrutiny: Played part to control the

behaviour of Public Leaders by interfering or questioning

over actions of the government for the public interest.

For example, Media after raising the scandal of violating

human rights in anti poaching campaign, carried on

October, 2013 results the Parliament to discuss on it

and formulate a probe committee under chairperson of Hon.

James Lembeli to conduct an inquiry and its report were

submitted before the Parliament which resulted to

resignation and termination of four Ministers. The media

which reported the scandal were IPP Media, Newspapers

like the Guardian, Daily News, Citizens and social

networks like jamii forums, facebook.

Non-Governmental Organizations, Civil Society

Organizations and Community Based Organizations: They

play a big role in the society to enforce public leaders

to adhere rules and regulations. For example, Tanzania

Media Women Association (TAMWA)

International Organisations/multilaterals: e.g. The UN & its

organisations, Transparency International, Amnesty

International, Human Rights Watch etc.

State and Parliamentary institutions: These were established

by the Government in order to control the execution of

public leaders in relation to good utilization monetary

resources likely the Controller and Auditor General’s Office

which is under the Ludovic Utoh, Parliamentary Accounting

Committee which is under the Chairperson, Hon. Zitto Zuberi

Kabwe (MP) and Prevention Combating of Corruption Bureau

which is Director Edward Hosea.

SERVICE CHARTERS

Service charter is the expression of an understanding between thecitizen and the public service provider about the quantity andquality of services citizens receive in exchange for their taxes.It is essentially about the rights of the public and theobligations of the public servants as well as expectations fromthe citizens As public services are funded by citizens, eitherdirectly or indirectly through taxes, they have the right toexpect a particular quality of service that is responsive totheir needs and is provided efficiently at a reasonable cost. TheCitizen’s Charter is a written, voluntary declaration by serviceproviders about service standards, choice, accessibility, non-discrimination, transparency and accountability. It should be inaccordance with the expectations of citizens. Therefore, it is auseful way of defining to customers the nature of serviceprovision and explicit standards of service. Moreover, servicecharter can be expressed as a brief public document that providesessential information that citizen and stakeholders need to knowabout the services or functions of a public agency/department ofthe government and the manner in which they can assess servicesefficiently. The underlying principle is that when people areempowered with such information they will be able to hold theState and its agencies accountable. It covers key informationabout an agency’s service delivery approach and the relationshipthe client will have with the agency, including:

• what the agency does;• how to contact and communicate with the agency;• the standard of service clients can expect;• clients’ basic rights and responsibilities; and • how to provide feedback or make a complaint

THE PURPOSES OF THE SERVICE CHARTERS

The purpose of the service charters is to continuallyimprove the quality of public services for the people andother consumers of public services in Tanzania

The Citizen’s Charter sees public services through the eyesof those who use them.

The Citizen’s Charter is meant to raise quality, securebetter value and extend accountability.

Thus, the basic thrust of Citizens’ Charter is to bring thecitizen to the fore and see public services from serviceusers’ angle.

THE RATIONALE OF SERVICE CHARTER

The rationale for the Charters is to help change the mindset ofthe public official from someone with power over the public tosomeone with care of duty in spending the public money collectedthrough taxes and in providing them with necessary services.

A further rationale of Citizens’ Charter emanates from thenecessity of ensuring accountability of the providers of publicservices to the service users. Its justification is based on thefollowing factors;

On the recognition of the fact that all public services arepaid for by the citizens, either directly or indirectly.Therefore, they are entitled to quality and standardservices.

The citizens must be able to secure better value for theirmoney.

Make services more responsive and the service providers moreaccountable to the service users.

IMPORTANCE OF CITIZENS’ SERVICE DELIVERY CHARTERS

Empowers citizens to hold institutions and individualofficers accountable for quality, timely and responsiveservices- value addition to taxes

Reduces corruption Changes culture and attitude at work place by focusing

efforts to customer satisfaction Ensures public officers are conscious about quality of

services offered Enables systems to continuously re-engineer service

processes

THE COMPONETS OF CHARTER

There are the seven main components that any service charter mustcontain ;

Vision and Mission Statement; Details of Business transacted by the Organization Details of clients; Details of services provided to each client group; Details of grievance redress mechanism and how to access it;

and Expectations from the clients.

Other constitutes of service charter includes the following;

Basic information about the public entity. In its Citizens’Charter, the organization must state clearly what subjects itdeals with and service areas it broadly covers. This helps thecitizen to decide what type of services they can expect form aparticular service provider. On the other hand, a Charter must berealistic to incorporate commitments, which are achievable.

Expectations from the Users or Clients. The services in thecharter should be the most frequently sought or demanded. On the

other hand, there are certain obligations on the part of theservice users, which help in providing better services.Expectations of the service users must be genuine and accordingto the list of services enunciated in the Charter.

Citizens’ Rights and Responsibilities. A charter must clearlydefine what are the rights and responsibilities of the citizensconcerning a particular service. The citizens or service usersare also responsible to furnish information, which are essentialfor delivery of public services,

Agreed and Published Standards for Service Delivery. TheCitizens’ Charter must set explicit standards of service so thatthe users are aware of the quality or standard of service theycan reasonably expect from each service. It must containprovisions for effective monitoring and publication of actualperformance against the set standards. Service standards mustconform to the following five essential requirements thus Timebound Relevant, Accurate, Measurable, Specific.

Openness and Information. The objectives of Citizens’ Charterwill be fulfilled only if the organization reaches out to all ofits service users. The service users must be provided withcomprehensive information at the right time and at the rightplace. Full and accurate information published in a simplelanguage must be readily available to the stakeholders. Forexample, the public service provider should provide the Regularpublication of handouts, posters, newsletters, updatedinformation on website and information through popular modes ofcommunication can be used to reach out to the target user groups.The organization must be open to queries and tell the citizensabout the goals as well as the means it would like to adopt toachieve those goals.

Courtesy and Helpfulness. The organization should imbibe aculture of providing courteous and helpful services to the

service users and the charter must imbed it. Nevertheless, theorganization must form part of behavior of the public serviceproviders. The public service providers must be helpful andcourteous towards the citizens while providing services. Courtesyand helpfulness must be guided by the fact that it the serviceusers or the citizens for which the Organization and the serviceproviders exist and not the vise versa.

Value for Public Money. It is yet another important component ofCitizens’ Charter. It implies efficiency and economy indelivering public service within the limit of the availableresources. The users must get satisfaction in terms of servicestandard and value for their money

Complaints handling and Grievance Redress. There has to bepublished and easy to use complaint mechanism available to theservice users at a nearest possible point. A service user mustnot run from pillar to post to lodge a complaint or for redressof his grievances. There must be reasonable time limits set foreach stage of the complaint processing and its outcome. Detailedinformation about a complaint should include its type and nature,complainant's name, location and date, responsible officer, andreferrals. Genuine complaints must be seen as a means of gettingfeedback, which can be used to improve services in severalways ;It will reduce the causes of complaint in future, It willhelp the service provider to understand clearly when and where itis failing, The information generated by complaints will assistthe service provider to put matters right. A trend analysis ofcomplaints will help the organization to resolve systemic andrecurring problems.

Accessibility and Accountability Officials. The public servantsare accountable for providing better and quality services tocitizen. Moreover are accountable for handling of clientscomplaints, simply user are entitled with better services as theypay for them. Therefore officers are must be available in their

offices to receive complaints and provide services all the timethat are specified in the service charter.

Responsiveness and Commitment. Highly motivated and trainedfrontline staff should be given the responsibility to deal withusers’ grievances. Commitment for quick and appropriate redressof grievances is required at each level of the Organization forthe purpose; such as the data acquired can be then analyzed toascertain whether the Organization is able to meet its publishedstandards. This would require measurable targets to be set forobjective assessment of performance, which must be reviewed on aregular basis.

However, the Citizen’s Charter should not simply be a document ofassurances or a formula that imposes a uniform pattern on everyservice. It is meant to be a tool kit of initiatives and ideas toraise the level of standards of service delivery and increasedpublic participation, in the most appropriate way. The Chartershould be an effective tool to ensure transparency andaccountability and should ensure good governance if implementedsuccessfully by the government departments.

CORRUPTION IN PUBLIC SERVICE

Corruption is derived from the Latin verb rumpere, to break.

According to this approach, corruption is where the law is

clearly broken. Corruption is essentially the use of public power

for private gain. The first obvious site for such corruption is

the public sector

The Government of Tanzania has been battling against corruption

since the early days of independence, and the efforts have been

re-doubled in the last seven years with the adoption of a new and

comprehensive anti-corruption strategy.

Corruption in the public sector hampers the efficiency of public

services, undermines confidence in public institutions and

increases the cost of public transactions. Integrity is essential

for building strong institutions resistant to corruption. If,

metaphorically speaking, corruption is a disease, the response to

corruption is its cure and integrity in the civil services its

prevention. A particularly important aspect of prevention policy

is the endorsement of high integrity standards, such as

impartiality, fairness, honesty, dedication to duty, loyalty and

truthfulness, by civil servants.

There are many types of corruption such as;

Systemic corruption

As opposed to exploiting occasional opportunities, endemic or

systemic corruption is when corruption is an integrated and

essential aspect of the economic, social and political system,

when it is embedded in a wider situation that helps sustain it.

Systemic corruption is not a special category of corrupt

practice, but rather a situation in which the major institutions

and processes of the state are routinely dominated and used by

corrupt individuals and groups, and in which most people have no

alternatives to dealing with corrupt officials. Examples might

include contemporary Bangladesh, Nigeria, Kenya, Cameroon and

many others. 

Sporadic (individual) corruption

Sporadic corruption is the opposite of systematic corruption.

Sporadic corruption occurs irregularly and therefore it does not

threaten the mechanisms of control nor the economy as such. It is

not crippling, but it can seriously undermine morale and sap the

economy of resources.

 Political corruption

Political corruption is any transaction between private and

public sector actors through which collective goods are

illegitimately converted into private-regarding payoffs.

Political corruption is often used synonymously with “grand” or

high level corruption, distinguished from bureaucratic or petty

corruption because it involves political decision-makers.

Political or grand corruption takes place at the high levels of

the political system, when politicians and state agents entitled

to make and enforce the laws in the name of the people, are using

this authority to sustain their power, status and wealth.

Political corruption not only leads to the misallocation of

resources, but it also perverts the manner in which decisions are

made. Political corruption is when the laws and regulations are

abused by the rulers, side-stepped, ignored, or even tailored to

fit their interests. It is when the legal bases, against which

corrupt practices are usually evaluated and judged, are weak and

furthermore subject to downright encroachment by the rulers.

 Grand corruption

High level or “grand” corruption takes place at the policy

formulation end of politics. It refers not so much to the amount

of money involved as to the level in which it takes place: grand

corruption is at the top levels of the public sphere, where

policies and rules are formulated in the first place. Usually

(but not always) synonymous to political corruption.

Petty corruption

Small scale, bureaucratic or petty corruption is the everyday

corruption that takes place at the implementation end of

politics, where the public officials meet the public. Petty

corruption is bribery in connection with the implementation of

existing laws, rules and regulations, and thus different from

“grand” or political corruption. Petty corruption refers to the

modest sums of money usually involved, and has also been called

“low level” and “street level” to name the kind of corruption

that people can experience more or less daily, in their encounter

with public administration and services like hospitals, schools,

local licensing authorities, police, taxing authorities and so

on.

Both grand and petty corruption are serious problems in

Tanzania yet various comprehensive laws are in place to prevent

corruption. It is largely due to a weak internal control and low

or non-compliance with anti-corruption regulations within

different government agencies. For instance, public procurement,

taxation, and customs service are areas that are prone to

corruption. Foreign companies have identified that corruption

within those sectors poses potential obstacles for doing business

in Tanzania as bribery is often demanded

 Causes of corruption

The causes of corruption are varied and would have to be

understood in specific contexts. Corruption is closely, but not

solely linked to officials' discretion over rents and the degree

of accountability in executing such discretion.

Ambiguous laws and regulation

A lack of clear rules governing the public sector and its

procedures creates loopholes for persons or firms to receive a

government benefit to which they might not be entitled. In South

Africa the Corruption Act 140 of 1992 and the Prevention of

corruption and Related Practices Act 12 of 2004 are vaguely

formulated and this give people the leeway to avoid prosecution.

Poor enforcement of property rights and the rule of law

Weak enforcement of law and order in relation to property

businesses encourage corruption. Corruption is also more likely

to take place when bureaucratic red tape is excessive.

The overall culture of governance also plays an important role in

corruption

If political leaders and top bureaucrats set an example of self-

enrichment or ambiguity over public ethics, lower level officials

and members of the public might follow suit. Hence, bribery and

corruption may become the norm, even in the face of formal rules

intended to support clean governance. Because of government's

major role in most developing economies, opportunities for

corruption are often more numerous.

Consequences of corruption

Corruption undermines economic development

Corruption undermines political stability and government

legitimacy

Corruption undermines the fabric itself

Corruption jeopardizes the allocation of resources to

sectors crucial for development

Corruption encourages and perpetuates other illegal

opportunities

controls and non-compliance with laws and regulations,

particularly in the area of public procurement.

Corruption persists in government procurement,

privatisation, taxation and customs clearance.

Petty corruption in dealings with traffic, customs and

immigration officers has been identified by foreign

companies as an obstacle to investment. 

The government's commitment to strengthening integrity has

been seriously questioned given the extent of corruption

within the country and corruption cases involving ministers

and leading members of political parties.