WAJIBU and Policy Forum have officially launched the 2023/24 Accountability Reports at an event held in Dodoma, marking a critical step towards strengthening good governance, enhancing transparency, and combating corruption, embezzlement, and fraud in the management of public finances. The event was organised under the project Empowering Citizenry Agency for Strengthened Public Financial Governance and Sustainable Growth in Tanzania, widely known as Raia Makini, and funded by the European Union (EU).
The launch brought together a diverse range of stakeholders from both public and private sectors, including representatives from the Office of the Controller and Auditor General (CAG), the Ethics Secretariat, civil society organisations, development partners, and the media.
The guest of honour, Mr. John Kabale, Assistant Director at the Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau (PCCB), represented the PCCB Director General, Mr. Ciprian Chalamila. In his address, Kabale emphasised that the fight against corruption cannot succeed without strong accountability mechanisms and proper management of public resources. He noted that accountability reports such as these are vital tools for institutions like the PCCB to prevent, investigate, and address the misuse of power and public funds.
Retired Judge Robert Makaramba delivered the keynote address, making a powerful contribution to the national accountability discourse. He stated that genuine democracy cannot flourish without transparency in resource allocation, and without citizens having the ability to scrutinise how public funds are used. He stressed that the link between effective service delivery and fiscal discipline is undeniable and called on institutions to begin implementing audit recommendations in practice.
The reports launched by WAJIBU and Policy Forum are based on an analysis of 21 audit reports submitted by the Controller and Auditor General to the President of the United Republic of Tanzania on March 27, 2025, and later presented to Parliament on April 16, 2025. Among these, six were core financial audit reports covering the Central Government, Local Government Authorities, Public Entities, Development Projects, ICT, and Performance Assessment. The remaining fifteen were Performance Audit Reports.
These audits revealed a pattern of recurring challenges: delays in completing development projects, violations of procurement procedures, weak contract oversight, poor revenue collection, and delays in depositing public funds. Alarmingly, the government’s borrowing was found to exceed limits approved by Parliament, raising concerns over public financial stability.
To make these findings accessible to ordinary citizens, WAJIBU and Policy Forum simplified the audit content into user-friendly formats and compiled three thematic accountability reports. The first report focused on Public Financial Management, exposing signs of corruption, embezzlement, and fraud, including off-system collections and delayed deposits. The second report explored Investment in the Public and Business Sector, highlighting recurring losses in public corporations, weak governance, and the absence of ongoing project evaluations. The third report examined Service Delivery in sectors such as health, education, and water, revealing shortages in medical supplies, staff, infrastructure, and other essentials, along with cases where funds allocated for these services were not spent at all.
WAJIBU’s Executive Director, FCPA Ludovick Utouh, clarified that launching the reports is only one step in a broader journey. The next phase involves disseminating the findings through citizen dialogues, workshops, media programs, and community-based tracking efforts like PETS (Public Expenditure Tracking Surveys). He stressed the importance of strengthening public understanding so that citizens can effectively demand accountability from duty bearers.
While the event served as an important platform to present and discuss the findings, the launch of the reports was part of a much larger process to drive action. The guest of honour closed his remarks with a reminder that the real value of audit work lies in how stakeholders, including public officials, Members of Parliament, the media, and communities, respond to the recommendations. Without their active engagement, the insights remain underutilised.
Ultimately, these accountability reports offer more than a diagnosis of systemic issues; they serve as a roadmap for building trustworthy public institutions and fostering a culture of responsibility for the benefit of both current and future generations.