Tanzania to amend anti-graft laws to give heavy punishment to offenders

Tanzanian authorities said on Monday they were in the process of amending the Prevention and Combating of Corruption Act of 2007 in order to give deterrent punishment to people implicated in corrupt deals.

Angellah Kairuki, the east African nation's Minister of State in the President's Office responsible for Public Services and Good Governance, said the amended laws will mete out heavy punishment to offenders and confiscation of their property.

She was speaking at the launch of a national campaign week to provide services to people and to listen to their complaints as part of celebrations marking the Human Rights Day which falls on December 10.

"We are amending the anti-corruption laws in order to give it more powers in punishing criminals involved in corruption, including compensating to the government the damage they cause," said the minister.

She added: "At the moment, people are coming out to give information about public officials who misuse government funds despite the laws not giving heavy punishment to the offenders."

The minister said the current anti-corruption laws were very lenient to offenders, which encouraged people to get involved in corrupt practices.

Transparency International, a global organization leading the fight against corruption, ranked Tanzania at 117 out of 168 countries on corruption index. Endit