By Alvar Mwakyusa

PRESIDENT Jakaya Kikwete on Wednesday highlighted the achievements made by the government in upholding democracy and good governance since independence, citing the formation of various institutions to maintain rule of law among other things.

The president was speaking at the State House in Dar es Salaam on Wednesday on the occasion to officially hand over the country's self assessment report to the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM)'s visiting panel of eminent persons.The 21-member panel of experts of the APRM Country Review Mission (CRM) for Tanzania has been drawn from various professions across Africa. They will be in the country for three weeks during which they would gather inputs from a wide range of stakeholders on the country's report.

"We have a number of institutions charged with preserving good governance and the rule of law, including the National Audit Office, the Ethics Secretariat for public leaders and Commission for Human Rights and Good Governance among others," he said.Mr Kikwete experienced his appreciation of the APRM process in Africa, saying it is a useful hand in monitoring good governance and responsible leadership.

He said the government is committed to the APRM process as a tool for self assessment within the African context as opposed to evaluation by foreigners. The president is expected to present a final report to the African Union (AU)'s Heads of State Meeting slated for July in Lilongwe, Malawi.

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