World Anti-Corruption Day

Today is World Anti-Corruption Day.  

Zambia has a troubled record on corruption in recent years. Earlier in 2020 Transparency International’s latest Corruption Perception Index pointed to a worsening of corruption as the country recorded a further drop in its score in 2019.  

The drop saw Zambia move from 35 to 34 points, ranking 113 out of the 180 countries included in the measure. The drop followed a dismal performance in 2018 when Zambia dropped nine places, moving to 105th, after its score fell from 37 to 35 points out of 100. It was the first time Zambia had dropped by two points and nine places in one year.  

2018 was also marred by questions about the purchase of 42 fire trucks at US$42 million. 

Zambia has been on a downward trend since 2016.  

According to civil society activist and Alliance for Community Action (ACC) Director Laura Miti “corruption is killing Zambia.” 

Miti says that today is a “time for Zambians to reflect on the billions of Kwacha that have been stolen under this government.”  

“The billions we speak about are the ones set out in the Auditor General's and FIC reports. These add up to over 20 Billion,” she continued. 

“If we consider amounts that have never been reported, but we see in ostentatious the lifestyle of the President, Ministers and other PF connected, the heart weeps,” Miti writes on social media. 

“Weeps for the intelligent young people unable to go to university or college because their money probably built the 10th house for a Minister; babies who died for lack of basic medicine; millions of women who spend hours searching for water and when they find it, it is dirty and unsafe; the millions of unemployed youth,” she explains. 

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) publishes its own research on corruption, including the Zambia Bribe Payers Index Survey Report of 2019, which it published alongside Transparency International’s Zambia chapter. The 2019 report identified the Zambia Police Service as being the most corrupt public sector institution in the survey and pointed to an overall increase of 0.9% between 2017 and 2019. According to the findings the probability of paying a bribe sought or inducement of any kind to a public officer when seeking a public service is 10.9%. 

Institutions where higher probabilities of paying a bribe were recorded include Zambia Police Service, excluding Traffic section (59.5%) and Traffic section (40.7%), Road Transport and Safety Agency (RTSA) (38.7%), Local Authorities, (22.9%), and Ministries for Education, (21.1) %.