Of all the challenges facing the new president the problem of corruption must be at the top of the list. The media has reminded him that some of the 30 leaders accused of engaging in corrupt practices and who were named by the Warioba Corruption Commission in 1996 are still in his administration. He himself has declared several times his intention to fight corruption and even asked the public to give him names of dishonest leaders. Later he said he knows such leaders but has decided to ‘give them time to reform’.

While answering MPs, Minister of State (Good Governance) Philip Marmo, admitted that there was such a list but said no legal action could be taken without evidence. This is what former President Mkapa said when he failed to bring any leaders accused of corruption to court – Mwananchi.

The Minister also told Parliament that in 2005 most of the complaints about corruption were directed at local authorities, followed by police, the judiciary and then education and the political parties. He said statistics showed that Kagera Region came first with 558 complaints, followed by Shinyanga (485), Mwanza (331), Mtwara (331), Tabora (322), Tanga (284) and Iringa (249). Lindi was last on the list. The Minister noted that the statistics might not be scientific, as they could just mean that people in some places were more pro-active about their rights than others – Majira.