Zimbabwe ranked 157 out of 180 on corruption index.. it’s getting worse

The Zimbabwean government has unsurprisingly registered a one point drop in the recently released Corruption Perception Index by Transparency International Zimbabwe (TIZ).

According to the Index, Zimbabwe scored 23/100 in 2021, a drop from 2020’s 24/100.

Last year, the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) said it submitted 180 dockets to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) but only four convictions were made.

Nehanda Radio ran a story recently indicating that anti-graft institutions were allocated more than US$33 million to fight corruption.

ZACC chairperson Loice Matanda-Moyo blamed NPA for failing the commission by not prosecuting culprits.

Award-winning journalist Hopewell Chin’ono who was jailed in 2020 after exposing alleged corruption implicating President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s family in a US$60 million Covid-19 scandal, castigated the ruling Zanu PF party for orchestrating misrule and corruption.

“Zimbabwe is ranked 157 out of 180 on the world corruption index, Meaning that it is one of the worst.

“This is the ZANU PF legacy of 41 years of misrule and corrupt rule!

“I have been jailed for exposing corruption because the state is run by the corrupt,” Chin’ono said.

Seychelles (70) tops the 2021 index.

A statement accompanying the Index claims that the “performance of Seychelles (70, up 18 points since 2012) has steadily risen on the CPI over the past decade. During this time, substantial open government and anti-corruption reforms were achieved.

“These gains need to be further solidified, not reversed. For example, the National Assembly of Seychelles recently voted to remove a requirement for spouses and family members of high-level government officials to declare their assets, creating a new loophole.

“Seychelles also needs to tackle the financial secrecy which has made it an attractive destination for dirty money from around the world,” read the statement.

Commenting on the latest index, Transparency International Secretariat Chief Executive Officer Daniel Eriksson said:

“In authoritarian contexts where control rests with a few, social movements are the last remaining check on power. It is the collective power held by ordinary people from all walks of life that will ultimately deliver accountability.” Nehanda Radio