Promoting Transparency in the Extractive Sectors: An EITI Training for Tanzania Legislators

By Silas Olan'g and Matteo Pellegrini

On March 30, the Revenue Watch Institute conducted a one-day training session on the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) with members of the Tanzanian Parliamentary Standing Committee for Energy and Minerals. The training took place at the parliamentary building in Dar es Salaam, and was organized at the request of the committee after the country joined EITI in February 2009. Close to half of all committee members participated in the training, which was delivered by RWI training and capacity building program officer Matteo Pellegrini and Kaiza Bubelwa, a civil society representative on the Multi-Stakeholder Group (MSG) of  the Tanzania EITI (TEITI). This article intends to provide an overview of the session and lessons for the future.

	RWI Tanzania Program Coordinator Silas Olan'g

For decades, promoting transparency in the Tanzanian extractive sectors has remained largely a rhetorical exercise. There has been little official information in the public domain regarding mining operations and revenues accrued from minerals, natural gas and oil explorations. The contracts the government has entered into with investors have remained secret—inaccessible even to the Parliament.

This started to change with the executive's decision to disclose the report of the "Bomani Committee." This Presidential Mining Review Committee, formed by President Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete in late 2007 and consisting of 12 members representing legislators, government ministries, and financial sector experts (such as the Capital Markets Authority and a private tax consultant), was tasked with reviewing commercial mining contracts and making recommendations to effect a mutually beneficial understanding between mining investors and the government. This new willingness to publicly disclose information on extractive industries has been further consolidated by the government's move to join the EITI.¹

The training was organized to provide Parliament with an overview of the EITI process and an update on the initiative's progress to date, with a view of exploring the role Parliament could play in relation to TEITI.

MPs initially reacted with some degree of disillusionment. "I am a bit disappointed with the limited scope of EITI because revenue is an outcome of a negotiation process involving two parties; unfortunately, in the case of Tanzania, the two parties are unequal in terms of both knowledge of the industry and negotiation skills," said one participant, as the facilitator introduced the basic scope of EITI.

The MPs' disappointment dissipated as it became clear that the scope of EITI is not fixed and countries have the liberty to expand beyond the minimum requirements established by the EITI and adapt it to their needs in a way that brings maximum benefits to the country. Liberia's inclusion of forestry in the EITI convincingly demonstrated the flexibility in EITI implementation.

After covering the basic notions of the EITI and its implementation, legislators brainstormed about their role in the TEITI, specifically debating whether their engagement would be more effective with legislators sitting on the MSG, of which they are currently not members, or by closely monitoring progress of the initiative from outside. One MP eloquently stated, "National resources belong to the people. We are the representative of the people. In the absence of legislators, who represents the voice of the people in TEITI?" Discussions eventually led to some level of consensus that legislators would play a more effective oversight role from outside rather than from within the MSG, by requesting regular updates from the responsible Ministry (Energy and Minerals) on the progress and outcomes of the initiative.

When discussing options to institutionalize the EITI in Tanzania through statutory law, MPs worried that passing an EITI law, as Nigeria and Liberia have done, could restrict the EITI's ability to adapt to changing circumstances. They instead suggested that the TEITI Memorandum of Understanding be published in the official government gazette.² This would protect the TEITI from disruption as a result of eventual shifts in the responsible ministry or in a possible new government after the upcoming parliamentary elections.

Legislators also accepted the challenge of using their new knowledge about TEITI to create community awareness about the initiative in their respective constituencies, thus acting as a bridge between the initiative and the public.

"We have learned a lot about the EITI," commented one MP in her closing remarks, on behalf of her fellow participants. "It has been a long but very enriching day." MPs in Tanzania are now better enabled to successfully engage in consultations between TEITI and Parliament and other stages of the initiative to come.

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LEARN MORE

• Reforming the Mining Sector in Tanzania: Legislators Gather for RWI Training on Legal and Economic Frameworks
• Empowering Oversight Bodies: Putting the Tanzania’s Mining Act Under Scrutiny
• "Knowledge is Power": Empowering Civil Society to Make the Most of the EITI in Tanzania
• TANZANIA: Overview