Perceiving Corruption in Tanzania

The difficulties associated with conventional corruption measurements as employed in comparative country evaluations concern the accuracy they provide in assessing and explaining corruption. These conventional measures regard corruption as a one-dimensional phenomenon (quantified by a single score) which varies in incidence but not in form between countries. Such measures frequently associate corruption with bribery. But this one-dimensional composite measurement of corruption is insufficient to capture corruption in less developed economies, particularly in Africa, where corruption is perceived as taking many forms. Transparency International’s assessment of Tanzania (recently graduated by the World Bank to middle-income country status), demonstrates the misleading consequences of such composite, ubiquitous metrics. Perceptions of corruption as well as the diverse activities classifiable as corrupt practices are complex concepts; so any single indicator applied internationally may fail to accurately quantify these concepts; nor will such measures help to identify potential anti-corruption intervention strategies.