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The Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau (PCCB) and the Drug Control and Enforcement Authority (DCEA) recently united to combat corruption and drug abuse in educational institutions. They signed a pact titled "Eliminate Corruption and Illicit Drugs in Schools and Higher Learning Institutions" in Dodoma. The Memorandum focuses on exchanging information to prevent these vices and aims to discourage youth involvement in corruption and drug abuse. The PCCB has established 7,000 anti-corruption clubs across schools and higher learning institutions in the country.

According to a survey conducted by Education Sub-Saharan Africa (ESSA), most universities in East Africa struggled to uphold the integrity of examinations that were administered online during the COVID-19 pandemic. The lead investigator at ESSA reports that students used materials prohibited during the examinations or breached university examination policies. Uganda and Kenya had the highest number of universities that struggled, at 31% and 27%, respectively.

An investigation in Tanzania reveals a rising number of bureaus and individuals who make their living by writing dissertations and research reports for postgraduates and undergraduates. This form of academic dishonesty is widespread among postgraduate students, most of whom are employed in the public as well as private sectors.

Ten out of 15 students in Tanzania admitted they had plagiarized on a regular basis without being noticed by their supervisor. They used fraudulent ways to graduate because professors either did not have the time to critically look at the students work or may notice it was plagiarized but took it as an opportunity to get bribes. According to a lecturer at Tumaini University Makumira, some of his colleagues assign or approve projects that already exist in the institution’s libraries.

Corruption is part of the daily life of Tanzanians. Teachers accept bribes for letting their students pass their exams and even for enrolling children in school. Moreover, they pay bribes to get a promotion or to be transferred to a more comfortable place. The “United for Our Rights” project implemented by the European Union and two Tanzanian non-governmental organizations aims to empower citizens to better understand their rights and how to address corruptions and governance issues.

Tanzania’s flagship University of Dar es Salaam is under investigation by the parliamentary Public Accounts Committee for the mismanagement of university funds. An audit report for the 2014-15 and 2015-16 fiscal years presented to the parliamentary committee earlier this month shows that approximately US$0.5 million was lost on unretired imprest from workers and US$0.2 million on salaries to ghost workers at the university. The committee chairperson suggested that poor financial management at the university was behind the losses.

Following a directive in late-2016 of the President of the 5th-Phase Government of Tanzania, verification (by a Special Presidential Task Force) of the academic credentials of reportedly 400 035 civil servants who draw emoluments from Government coffers unearthed much rot! The probe revealed that 9,932 public service employees got where they are today on the back of educational certificates which were either forged outright, borrowed, bought or stolen.

The Public Service Recruitment Secretariat has collected a total of 1,008 fake academic certificates from public service job seekers. The Deputy Secretary of the Quality and Control Department said the use of forged certificates is a national crisis since the majority of job seekers use them. "The certificates (1,008 fake academic certificates) were collected within the six years of the Secretariat," he said and commended the government's move to crack down on the rampant use of fake certificates in public service. The people behind the fake certificates were taken on hold and their certificates blacklisted in the public service.

Following the suspension of student loans and the imposition of a week-long ultimatum, 15 universities in Tanzania have responded to a ministerial directive to pay back loans issued to them for thousands of so-called ‘ghost’ students. The directive was issued after a recent verification exercise revealed that about 2,192 students receiving loans at 31 universities may not even exist. The universities were given seven days to recover and return the money, estimated to be over TZS3.8 billion (US$1.7 million).

Tanzania’s universities is having trouble with ghosts. The government has suspended student loans worth TZS3.2 billion (US$1.5 million), affecting around 2000 students. This came after a routine verification exercise revealed that some who signed up for loans may not even exist. In a country of more than 100 000 registered tertiary students, 2000 “ghosts” may not seem like a big problem. But when the loan money is being misspent, deliberately or because of poor administration, the entire higher education system is affected, and ultimately the country.