Open Journal of Social Sciences, 2017, 5, 282-299 http://www.scirp.org/journal/jss ISSN Online: 2327-5960 ISSN Print: 2327-5952 DOI: 10.4236/jss.2017.54025 April 30, 2017 Land Access and Corruption Practices in the Peri-Urban Areas of Tanzania: A Review of Democratic Governance Theory Said Nuhu 1,2 , Chakupewa Joseph Mpambije 3,4 1 Institute of Human Settlements Studies, Ardhi University, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania 2 Swedish University of Agriculture Science, Uppsala, Sweden 3 Mkwawa University College of Education, Iringa, Tanzania 4 University of Dar es Salaam, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania Abstract The level of corruption practices in the process of accessing land in peri-urban areas is agreeably enormous in Tanzania. The Democratic Governance Theory (DGT) anticipated curbing corruption in land related issues through advo- cating equality, equity, transparency and rule of law among others. This study aims to find out the extent at which the Democratic Governance Theory is upheld in Tanzania in a bid to fight corruption in the entire process of ac- cessing land among the peri-urban dwellers. The study was conducted in Dar es Salaam City and deployed a case study methodology approach. Primary data employed household survey using questionnaire and in-depth interview with key informants where as secondary data collected includes government reports, research reports, books and articles. Findings from the study reveal that, despite emphasis of DGT’s by the Government of Tanzania corruption is still serious problem in land accessibility. Land accessibility procedure was seen to be complicated, non-transparent and too bureaucratic. Lastly, anti- corruption agencies were ineffective and inefficient, thus fail to check corrupt practices in the land circles. The study concluded that DGT has not ade- quately helped the country in the fight against corruption. The Government of Tanzania should therefore, consider comprehensive and participatory reforms in land tenure regime, land accessibility procedure and anti-corruption agen- cies. It is imperative to integrate modern information technology in the proc- ess of accessing land, so as to reduce frequent contact between land seekers and government officers. Keywords Corruption, Access to Land, Peri-Urban, Democratic Governance Theory How to cite this paper: Nuhu, S. and Mpambije, C.J. (2017) Land Access and Corruption Practices in the Peri-Urban Areas of Tanzania: A Review of Democratic Governance Theory. Open Journal of Social Sciences, 5, 282-299. https://doi.org/10.4236/jss.2017.54025 Received: March 18, 2017 Accepted: April 27, 2017 Published: April 30, 2017 Copyright © 2017 by authors and Scientific Research Publishing Inc. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution International License (CC BY 4.0). http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Open Access