Bunge-Lenye-Meno-A-Parliament-with-Teeth-for-Tanzania-LAXNNAJ547

A Parliament with Teeth, for Tanzania
If the government misuses funding which the UK is giving to Tanzania,
then Tanzanian MPs should be answerable to MPs in the donor country
for our performance. In principle, parliament should be informed of
both project funding and budget support.
“As parliamentarians in Dodoma, we should be
able to answer to our fellow parliamentarians in
the UK for how Tanzania is doing.”
There are reasons why donors might not discuss all their concerns with
us: the executive has the right to negotiate the terms of contracts and
sources of funds in private. At that particular stage, they do not have to
tell parliament what they have agreed. The government is also empowered
to enter into contracts with the World Bank, without informing parliament
of the terms of these contracts. This has been a tradition for many years.
The constitution accords the government a right to borrow anywhere.
But as donors move towards a different modality of funding – notably,
the method of General Budget Support in Tanzania – the question
of accountability arises again. In effect, donors who favour GBS
are saying: “We give you this money. We trust you are going to use it
well”. The expectations are higher, so the question of accountability is
more important.
The Development Partners Group
Donors are becoming more interested in parliament. They recognise the
usefulness of a strong parliament which can hold the executive to
account, both for domestic revenue but also for financing from abroad.
But the donors who contribute directly to the government budget
themselves have a role to play in building parliamentary accountability.
60