Public Right of Access to Public Leaders’ Asset Declarations in Tanzania: A Critique of the Law

This paper examines the legal framework governing the public right of access to public leaders’ asset declarations in Tanzania. It argues that the existing legal framework does not clearly define the scope of the public right of access to public leaders’ asset declarations. It does not set the criteria for determining the relevance and genuineness of a complaint or the good faith of the complainant. The law contains some procedural gaps and vests too much discretionary power in the Ethics Commissioner to allow or disallow individuals to access asset declarations. Moreover, there are several other pieces of legislation inconsistent with the public right of access to asset declarations. The authors contend that, unless the Government undertakes comprehensive legal reforms to address the noted legal weaknesses, ineffective implementation of the public right of access to asset declarations in Tanzania will continue to be a notable feature.