Say no to corruption, it bleeds Tanzania dry

AS Tanzania heads to the general elections, a haunting question looms: are we choosing leaders, or enabling looters?

Corruption, that silent cancer, has metastasised in every corner of our national life. It no longer hides, it thrives in plain sight, sneaking into contracts, swindling public funds and smirking in the faces of the poor it has robbed. Enough is enough. Corruption is not just a financial crime; it is the theft of hope.

When a citizen pays a bribe to receive what is rightfully theirs, say a hospital bed, a passport, a land deed, it is not simply unethical. It is the denial of dignity, the erosion of citizenship and the quiet betrayal of the nation’s soul.

Every shilling stolen from the public purse is a child out of school, a patient turned away from the hospital, a village without clean water. It is not an abstract statistic, it is real suffering. This is not just about broken laws. This is about broken lives.

When a well-connected crook is handed a government tender, while honest citizens are sidelined, we lose more than money and that is we lose a generation. When merit is ignored in favour of nepotism, the entire future of the nation is jeopardised. We can’t build a just society with unjust systems.

Let us be clear: corruption is poverty’s best friend. It devours budgets meant for development, turning roads into potholes and hospitals into morgues.

It is a key reason Tanzania continues to struggle with poverty, not because we lack resources, but because we must not allow our national wealth to be in the hands of people (read corrupt officials), who treat it as their personal inheritance.

And yet, many citizens have been made to feel powerless. Corruption turns people into bystanders, or worse, into prey. Public service becomes public exploitation. Leaders meant to serve instead steal.

This is not governance, it is gangsterism wrapped in bureaucracy. This election season must be different. We must reject candidates who have no record of integrity, who speak of “development” but live off dirty money. We must demand transparency, punish impunity and remember: the vote is not just a right, it is a weapon. Use it wisely.

The fight against corruption is not just for the government, it is for all of us. Parents must teach their children that shortcuts are not success. Schools must instil integrity alongside arithmetic. Religious leaders must denounce theft from the pulpit, not dine with thieves. And media must investigate, expose and never relent.

To the youth: don’t admire those who prosper through plunder. Their wealth is built on your stolen opportunities. The car they drive may be the clinic your mother needed.

The mansion they build may have been your scholarship. We must rise together, not in cynicism but in conviction. Corruption is not a destiny; it is a decision. Let us choose differently. Let us vote responsibly.

Let us speak boldly. Let us act decisively. If we want a Tanzania that works for all, not just the corrupt few, then we must fight using our votes wisely. Not tomorrow. Today.