Quiet Corruption and Social Accountability in Health and Education Services of Tanzania: an investigation on how Quiet Corruption is interpreted in Tanzania

The study provides a qualitative analysis of how Quiet Corruption (QC) has been perceived by citizens and the anti-corruption agency in Tanzania, as well as the factors hindering social accountability (SA) among ordinary citizens. Generally, QC is various malpractices committed by street-level bureaucrats, which mainly occur in forms such as absenteeism or ghost workers, but not necessarily involving cash transactions. Enabling citizens to hold public officials and service providers accountable for their decisions or behavior is known as social accountability (SA). The study was conducted in the Dodoma region of Tanzania. Focus group discussions and face-to-face interviews were employed to collect data on QC and SA. A constant comparative method was used to categorize instances from focus group discussions and analyze the data. The incidence of QC is widespread in health and education and has become normalized as a part of life. State-led SA could contribute to improvements in public services, particularly in health and education services. Corruption is embedded in the society; thus corruption is a serious social problem. To combat QC effectively, this paper suggests reducing public officials’ discretion, reshape societal values and power restructuring, involving ethical leaders and introducing robust local monitoring mechanisms and strict measures against grand corruption.