CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION: THE APRM AND ITS IMPLEMENTATION IN TANZANIA “The mandate of the African Peer Review Mechanism [APRM] is to ensure that the policies and practices of participating states conform to the agreed political, economic and corporate governance values, codes and standards contained in the Declaration on Democracy, Political, Economic and Corporate Governance. The APRM is the mutually agreed instrument for self-monitoring by the participating member governments.” NEPAD/HSGIC/03-2003/APRM/MOU/Annex II 1.1 THE APRM AND ITS PROCESS 1. The APRM is an instrument voluntarily acceded to by Member States of the African Union (AU) as a self-monitoring mechanism for good governance. It was endorsed in 2003 by African leaders to complement the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), adopted in 2001 as an African development blueprint to eradicate poverty and place African countries on the path of sustainable growth and development. 2. The African Peer Review (APR) process entails periodic reviews of the policies and practices of participating states to ascertain progress towards achieving mutually agreed goals and compliance with agreed political, economic and corporate governance values, codes and standards, as outlined in the AU’s Declaration on Democracy, Political, Economic and Corporate Governance [APRM Base Document, Paragraph 15]. 3. The APRM has, at its epicentre, the deepening of democratic practices, with a view to strengthening achievements, disseminating best practice, and rectifying underlying deficiencies in governance and socioeconomic development processes in AU Member States. The aim is to encourage and build transformative leadership through a self-assessment process that is inclusive and participatory, constructive national dialogue, and the sharing of information and common experiences, in order to reinforce successful and exemplary practices among African countries. 4. The evaluation involves a dual process of self-assessment by the participating country, and of external independent evaluation, led by the APR Panel of Eminent Persons (APR Panel), culminating in a peer review by participating Heads of State and Government. The APRM is unprecedented both in scope and mandate. It assesses a country’s performance in four substantive thematic areas: • Democracy and Political Governance; • Economic Governance and Management; • Corporate Governance; and • Socio-Economic Development. 1.1.1 Objectives of the APRM focus areas 5. The key objectives for each of the four thematic areas area listed below. Democracy and Political Governance Objectives i. Preventing and reducing intra- and inter-country conflicts; ii. Fostering constitutional democracy; that is, periodic political competition and opportunity for choice, the rule of law, a Bill of Rights and the supremacy of the Constitution are firmly established in the Constitution; 21