AfricaPress-Tanzania: PREVENTION and Combating of Corruption Bureau (PCCB) in Bagamoyo District, Coast Region, has urged college students shun corrupt acts, including sexual corruption.
Sexual corruption acts are common in some colleges and universities in the country.
They are mainly contributed by lecturers who don’t abide by their professional ethics and by female students who are seduced to engage in a sexual affair to pass their exams.
Bagamoyo College of Arts and Culture (Tasuba) Principal, Dr Herbert Makoye, said this when presenting a subject on fighting against corruption at a convention held in Bagamoyo Town and attended by PPCB officials and principals from various colleges in the district.
“There have been incidents where lecturers have been demanding sexual favours from female students. In most cases, these female students end up failing their studies if they choose not to agree to that,” he said.
Dr Makoye added that some lecturers had been reported to have forced sexual relationships with their students so that they might get good grades.
He said these students were those performing poorly in their studies and those who lacked good morals.
PCCB Regional Manager Suzan Raymond told participants that sexual corruption was also prevalent in other areas, including in politics and in the workplace, adding that one of its causes was the deterioration of ethical values in society.
She explained that Section 7 of the Prevention and Combating Corruption Act No 11 of 2007 stated well the responsibilities of PCCB, one being working with different stakeholders in fighting against corruption in the country.
“We have agreed with a nongovernment organisation known as Women Fund Tanzania (WFT) to increase public awareness and fight against sexual corruption by providing education to various stakeholders. This approach has proved successful so far,” she noted.
One of the participants questioned how PCCB managed to deal with sexual corruption cases since the acts were done in privacy.
Responding, one of the PCCB officials said they had been dealing with such cases now and then and succeeded in taking legal action to some of the culprits who had cases to answer.
The convention involved participants from various colleges in the district, including School of Library, Archives and Documentation Studies (Slads), Tasuba, Kaole College, Agency for the Development of Educational Management (Adem) and Marian University College (Maruco).
