Wednesday, April 25, 2007

Tanzania beefs up anti-corruption law


NAIROBI, April 23 (Reuters) - Tanzania has passed a new anti-graft law giving corruption fighters in the east African country more power to target areas like government procurement and money laundering, a minister said on Monday. Stamping out graft has been among President Jakaya Kikwete's top priorities since he came to power in late 2005. The new legislation gives the state-run Prevention and Combating Corruption Bureau the power to seize assets from the guilty.

"The most weighted (crimes) deal with grand corruption like procurement, money laundering and corruption in auctions," Philip Marmo, minister of state for good governance in the president's office, told Reuters by phone from Dar es Salaam. The law, approved by parliament last week, will come into force with Kikwete's assent, he said, probably within a month. Denmark cut aid worth $3.16 million to Tanzania late last year over delays passing the new legislation. The government countered that it needed time to conduct public consultations.

Source: Reuters

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