The Government of Tanzania has been marking the Integrity and Human Rights Day annually on December 10 as a way to assess efforts on the fight against corruption and to promote transparency, accountability, human rights and good governance. In previous years, the commemoration of the event was organised individually by different Government oversight organisations. In 2016, for the first time, the seven oversight organisations coordinated each other for the conduct of the Integrity and Human Rights Day under the lead of the Ethics Secretariat. The oversight organisations include the Ethics Secretariat, President’s Office – Public Service Management (PO-PSM), Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau (PCCB), National Audit Office of Tanzania (NAOT), Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA), Commission for Human Rights and Good Governance (CHRAGG), and the Public Service Commission.
The commemoration was preceded by a five-day public outreach campaign called the “Public Service Week” held at Mnazi Mmoja Grounds downtown to sensitize the public on the mandate of the oversight institutions. The Swiss Embassy in Tanzania supported the five-day campaign from December 5th to 10th and the event on December 10th with a contribution of TZS 63 million (CHF 30,000) as a symbolic gesture to encourage Tanzania in its ongoing efforts to reduce corruption in the public service. In her speech at the event, the Swiss Ambassador to Tanzania H.E. Florence Tinguely Mattli reminded the Government that combating corruption should be done in a way that no international and national human rights standards that Tanzania has signed up to are violated.
The closure event was graced by the Vice-President of Tanzania Her Excellency Samia Suluhu Hassan, Minister for Education, Science, Techonogy and Vocational Training, Minister for Constitutional and Legal Affairs, Minister for Finance and Planning, Minister of State in the President's Office - Public Service Management and Good Governance as well as the CHRAGG Commissioner and the Director General of PCCB.
Another highlight of the event was the launch of Tanzania’s National Anti-Corruption Strategy and Action Plan (NACSAP) III. NACSAP constitutes the future guiding reference to coordinate the Government’s efforts to reduce corruption through its various agencies. Support to Tanzania’s anti-corruption efforts form an integral part of Switzerland’s Cooperation Strategy in Tanzania. For this purpose, Switzerland already provides technical advisory to two of the seven oversight organisations, which are the PCCB and NAOT. NACSAP III is expected to increase coordination among oversight organisations as well as non-state actors’ efforts to reduce corruption.
