Council also carried the anti-corruption war to the grassroots through its Press Clubs. They are established now in every district in the country to provide Tanzanians at lower levels of government - through local newspapers and radio broadcasts, in Kiswahili - an opportunity to demand accountability and transparency in public life. 425. The CRM established that, despite anti-corruption policy initiatives and measures, the perception of many stakeholders who spoke at its stakeholders’ meetings across the country was that corruption is widespread and on the rise, and that much more remains to be done. In particular, the political will to tackle corruption and its manifestation as grand corruption needs to be more vigorously demonstrated. This perception is reinforced by the Transparency International Corruption Index for 2008 which ranked Tanzania 102nd among 180 countries, and for 2009 and 2010, both of which ranked it 116th. 426. The CRM notes that participants at its stakeholders’ meetings highlighted the following as significant obstacles to the fight against corruption: (i) poverty; (ii) poor salaries and allowances for public servants; (iii) irregularities in public procurement processes; (iv) the country’s patrimonial political culture spawning clientelist networks among both state and non-state sectors; and (v) the devaluation of moral values; greed, and materialism. 427. The CRM found that other contributory factors include increasingly monetised electoral politics, opportunities for corrupt enrichment offered by the recent privatisation of public enterprises, the inadequate legal framework, and the weak human, financial and related logistic capacity of the country’s anti-corruption and regulatory agencies and institutions. Two examples of the inadequate legal framework are pertinent. First, asset declarations are not easily accessible to the public. Secondly, the whistleblower protection does not protect actual and potential whistleblowers from reprisals and victimisation as it should. Indeed, one study reported that, “the 2006 Afrobarometer survey indicates that only 3 per cent of respondents who had witnessed an act of corruption actually reported it, both due to lack of knowledge on how and where to report and out of fear of negative repercussions.” [www.U4.no March 2009] 428. The CRM found out that, as presently constituted, anti-corruption agencies and institutions, such as the Preventing and Combating of Corruption Bureau and the Ethics Secretariat, are constrained in their work by their enabling legislation and by the fact that they operate under, or report to the Office of the President. A number of participants at CRM stakeholder meetings across the country alleged that the low rate of cases prosecutions by the agencies for grand or high-profile corruption was probably due to partisan political considerations. This is despite the recent high-profile convictions and resignations on corruption related- charges. 429. There seems, therefore, to be a general perception that for national anti-corruption agencies to be taken seriously as independent, horizontal institutions of accountability and transparency, theirtheir autonomy from other branches of government needs to be strengthened, and they should report directly to the legislature. 430. The CRM finds this view worthy of serious consideration. It has become a commendable practice in many APRM member-states to establish anti-corruption commissions, entrenched in national commissions and independent of the executive branch. They sometimes have prosecutorial powers not tied to approval by the Minister of Justice/Attorney-General and the Director of Public Prosecutions. This is a matter of confidence-building and nurturing broad public support for anti-corruption campaigns, although the CRM would add that granting such autonomy to the agency must be backed up with full financial support and the appointment of a strong leadership team at the helm. Recommendations 431. The APR Panel recommends that: • The various agencies tasked with fighting corruption are consolidated into an Anti-Corruption Commission, well-resourced and with prosecutorial powers, and reporting directly to the legislature; [Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, PCCB; Parliament] • The role of the media, civil society organizations and the private sector as partners with the government be enhanced in the anti-corruption war; [Government of Tanzania, the legislature, media, CSOs] • Cases of corruption by high-profile public and private sector functionaries continue to be vigorously 97