Call for Tanzanian election winner to abolish unfair tax anomalies

Christian Aid is calling on the winner of this Sunday’s general election in Tanzania to commit to ending tax anomalies that have deprived a country rich in mineral resources of badly needed revenue that could have been spent on schools, hospitals and other infrastructure improvements.

As it says:

With two former Government ministers and a permanent secretary currently facing corruption allegations in court, tackling financial malfeasance has emerged as a major election issue.

A recent index drawn up by the Revenue Watch Institute put Tanzania near the bottom of a global list in terms of the transparency of its mining and minerals deals – with only a few countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo and Equatorial Guinea having a lower score.

A recent report commissioned by Christian Aid and a number of Tanzanian organisations estimated that the country was deprived of revenue from gold mining companies amounting to at least $265.5m from low royalties and lost taxes between 2000 and 2008.