Zambia Moves Five Places On Global Corruption Index

 By Paul Shalala

For the fifth consecutive year, Zambia's international rankings on corruption have kept improving.

This status quo is being necessitated by various anti-corruption strategies and programs being implemented by various stakeholders.

The latest Corruption Perception Index has yet again revealed the progress Zambia is making in fighting graft.

The 2013 Index released on 3rd December, 2013 by Transparency International shows that Zambia has moved 5 places on global rankings from 88th in the world to 83.

This follows the gain by 1 point from 37 in 2012 to 38 points this year.

Transparency International Zambia Chapter President Lee Habasonda says the latest rankings are an indication that government has more work to do.

And Chief Government Spokesperson Mwansa Kapeya has described the results of the 2013 Corruption Perception Index as an indication that government's anti-corruption fight is succeeding.

177 countries worldwide were assessed for the CPI and more than two thirds of them failed to score above 50 on a scale of 100.

Overall, the index reveals that abuse of power, secret dealings and bribery continue to ravage societies around the world.

New Zealand and Denmark are this year ranked number one while Afghanistan, North Korea and Somalia are the worst corrupt nations on number 175.

Botswana is Africa's best ranked nation on the Corruption Perception Index at number 30 while Zambia is ranked 13th in Africa.

ZAMBIA DROPS ON CORRUPTION RANKINGS

By Paul Shalala in Berlin, Germany

An expert on corruption in African countries has observed that Zambia’s drop on the international rankings on corruption shows that the southern African country needs to step up its fight against the vice.

Annette Jaitener, who is senior programme coordinator for Africa and the Middle East at Transparency International Headquarters in Berlin, Germany says the results of the 2010 Corruption Perception Index indicate that Zambia has not improved from its previous rankings in 2009.

Ms Jaitner says the perception of most Zambians is that a lot has to be done by the authorities as there is still a huge problem of graft in the country.

Ms Jaitner said this when she addressed a group of African and Asian journalists who visited Transparency International headquarters this morning in Germany.

According to the 2010 Corruption Perception Index which was released by Transparency International in Germany a few days ago, Zambia is now ranked 101 less corrupt country in the world after having slipped two places backwards from number 99 in 2009.

Meanwhile, the Zambia Police Service has been classified as the most corrupt public institution in Zambia.

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According to Transparency International’s 2010 Global Corruption Barometer, most Zambians are of the view that the Police is more corrupt than other public institutions.

Other public institutions considered more corrupt in Zambia according to the poll results are political parties, civil servants, the legislature, and the education system, among others.

The Barometer bases its findings on interviews conducted with more than one thousand Zambians between July 1 and July 10 last year across the country.

Further, the Barometer also reveals that 48 per cent of Zambians interviewed last year felt that the Rupiah Banda-led MMD government was ineffective in its fight against corruption.

Of those interviewed, only 40 percent felt the previous government was effective while 12 percent felt the MMD government was lukewarm in its anti-graft fight.

During the previous government, the international community and local civil society organizations condemned the state for its relaxed anti-graft fight which led to the disbandment of the Taskforce on Corruption, a body that had been investigating and prosecuting corruption cases dating back to 1991.