There is now more negative public perception of Tanzania’s economic condition than a decade ago, a forum in Dar es Salaam was told today.

According to the Afrobarometer, an African-led, non-partisan research network that conducts public attitude surveys on democracy, governance and economic conditions on over 30 African countries, people in Tanzania are dissatisfied with the current economic condition of their country despite the average economic growth rate of above 6% that Tanzania has enjoyed throughout the last decade.

Speaking at the launch entitled “Does economic growth improve social service provision in Tanzania?,” Dr. Lucas Katera of REPOA, the research organisation leading on the Afrobarometer exercise for Tanzania, said that poor government performance in the delivery of public services has contributed to public dissatisfaction as well as increased corruption and lack of financial transparency in government expenditures.

“7 out of 10 Tanzanians are unhappy with present economic and living conditions and perception on economic condition overtime shows that the situation has worsened with those saying economic condition is bad increased from 42% in 2003 to 67% in 2014,” he said.

Demonstrating how satisfaction deteriorated overtime, Dr. Katera said that for education, approval decreased from 76% in 2003 to 51% in 2014 and for health it decreased from 70% in 2003 to 46% in 2014.

Speaking on the relationship between perceived poor economic condition and poor government delivery of services, he said that findings show that 7 in 10 Tanzanians with opinions that government performs badly in water and education perceive that the current economic condition were bad.

Dr. Katera concluded by saying that for government to win its citizens’ confidence, it should concentrate on improving service delivery and address corruption.

“Increased perception of corruption and lack of openness in the government expenditure contribute significantly to dissatisfaction with economic condition,” he said.

The Afrobarometer team in Tanzania, led by REPOA, interviewed 2,386 adult Tanzanians in August-September 2014. A sample of this size yields results with a margin of error of +/-2% at a 95% confidence level.