Factors affecting effective control of illicit drug trafficking in Tanzania: a case study of Dar es Salaam City
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Date
2017
Authors
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Journal ISSN
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Publisher
University of Dar es Salaam
Abstract
The aim of the study was to examine the factors affecting efforts on the war against illicit drug trafficking in Tanzania, with reference to Dar es Salaam region. The study was structured along four specific objectives which wanted to look at issues of security across entry, the issue of coordination among various security agencies in the antidrug war, the current initiatives especially the legal and regulatory frameworks, and the challenges being encountered in the fight against drugs trafficking in the country. From a methodological point of view, the study was qualitative in nature. This allowed the researcher to get in-depth information from those at the forefront of the illicit trafficking of drugs war. In total, 20 officials were purposefully selected from various government departments, including the offices of the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP), Director of Drugs Control and Enforcement Authority (DCEA), judiciary and police were interviewed with key informant guides. The findings have highlighted that among the key challenges that still beset the efforts of anti-drug war include limited resources (in terms of both human and financial capacity to acquire the state of the art equipment needed in such operations), corruption among the key government departments, especially those in the criminal justice and enforcement system. Others were external forces such as limited or lack of cooperation from other countries to book the suspects. The findings further show that since its ascendance to power, the government appointed the Director General for the DCEA, a body charged with antidrug trafficking in the country. The current antidrug authority has teeth: it can investigate arrest and prosecute on its own, without relying on the prosecutorial bureaucracy that characterized the past regimes, and which was moreover marred by inefficiency and corruption, as many suspects used to walk away scot free. However, it has also been observed that if all these efforts are to bear fruits, the government needs to tackle problem from a socio-economic perspective: improve the working living conditions of the youth, and show them that there is life beyond drug abuse. This would cut the umbilical cord of the supply chain, hence reducing if not eradicating the roots of drug trafficking.
Description
Available in print form, East Africana Collection, Dr. Wilbert Chagula Library, Class mark (THS EAF HV5840.T34B37)
Keywords
drug, Drug abuse, Drug traffic, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Citation
Barnabas, C. (2017) Factors affecting effective control of illicit drug trafficking in Tanzania: a case study of Dar es Salaam City. Master dissertation, University of Dar es Salaam. Dar es Salaam.