PETS is a shortening for Public Expenditure Tracking System. The program aims at educating members of civil society to make follow up on public resources and money and hold duty bearers accountable. By tracking income from taxes and asking how this money is spent, possible misuse may be discovered and better solutions found on how to use the resources in a way benefiting the many rather than the few.
PETS is quite challenging work. There is little tradition in Tanzania for questioning government officials, and politicians may therefore see PETS ambassadors as potential troublemakers challenging their authority and quality of work. The meaning of PETS is however not to bring disharmony to communities, but to increase efficiency in government programs by making sure resources are transferred where they are supposed to. A transparent government is a healthy government. Once misunderstandings about the program has been cleared up, we believe duty bearers will come to see the benefits of PETS as a tool to ease the governing process.
The key to successful PETS is to stand together. Few people are easy to ignore, a whole village is more difficult. By training young people, YPM hopes to make PETS a community movement, making our communities more transparent. Good governance is a key ingredient to create positive development.