Tanzania Councils Told to Restore TZS36.92bn in Development Allocations

Tanzania's parliamentary Local Authorities Accounts Committee has directed councils to account for or restore TZS36.92 billion that should have been allocated from own-source revenue to development and other earmarked activities in the 2024/25 financial year, according to the 4 November 2026 Daily News account of its report. The committee gave councils until 30 June 2029. This is an allocation-compliance finding, not proof that TZS36.92 billion was stolen or paid to fraudulent contractors.

The underlying 2024/25 Controller and Auditor General report, published by Tanzania's National Audit Office, says in section 4.3.3 that 102 local government authorities departed from mandatory rules on allocating their own revenues. Its exact total was TZS36,922,174,898. The National Audit Office lists the report in its public audit catalogue, alongside its other April 2026 reports.

The auditor separated the total into four categories. Forty-seven councils failed to allocate TZS22.697 billion to development activities; 34 did not transfer TZS2.226 billion for village and street operations; 10 did not transfer TZS2.277 billion for agricultural activities; and 11 did not transfer TZS9.722 billion for road works. These are earmarking categories and should not be recast as cash missing from accounts. The auditor said the problem had recurred in previous financial years.

The audit also called for a review of whether the mandatory allocation thresholds were realistic, given the recurring costs councils face. The report said insufficient monitoring and enforcement had allowed locally raised revenue to be directed largely to recurrent spending. This is a significant counterpoint to the parliamentary criticism: correcting the allocations requires both compliance and a viable plan for financing essential ongoing services.

The committee report was presented by its chair, Ado Shaibu, during parliament's November sitting and covered local-authority accounts for 2023/24 and 2024/25. Daily News also reported committee demands that councils recover TZS8.52 billion in outstanding service levies by 30 December 2027, and that the National Food Reserve Agency pay TZS2.916 billion owed to seven councils. These are different balances, not additional components of the TZS36.92 billion figure.

Separately, in a 5 November report, The Guardian of Tanzania quoted lawmaker Ester Bulaya saying 75 councils had redirected approximately TZS43 billion intended for development into recurrent expenditure. The Guardian attributed that estimate to the MP during debate; TFNOS has not reconciled it with the CAG's TZS36.92 billion figure, which measures failure to allocate revenue across several earmarked categories. The two amounts must not be combined or presented as the same set of transactions.

The auditor identified a further, distinct TZS9.48 billion in diversion and unapproved reallocation by 36 entities in 2024/25, citing Butiama, Kaliua and Dodoma among those involved. This is an official budget-compliance finding. It does not by itself establish a criminal conviction, personal enrichment or the amount of any ultimate loss.

The committee's demands place a deadline on corrective accounting and recovery, but do not show that the allocations have already been restored. The next documents to obtain are the committee's full signed report and annexes, council-by-council budget revisions, the government response and any procurement or anticorruption case outcomes. Public money that was budgeted, transferred, spent, questioned and recovered must be distinguished in subsequent reporting.