If you thought the fight against corruption in the public sector has improved in Zambia following the change of government in 2021, think again.
Official statistics show that the Corruption Perception Index – CPI which scores 180 countries has shown that in the past five years, Zambia’s rating has on average been stagnant at 114 out of 180 Countries.
This means that 113 countries out of 180 countries surveyed have been perceived to be performing better than Zambia in the fight against corruption.
The CPI which scores 180 countries and territories around the world based on perceptions of public sector corruption and uses a rank from 1 to 180 and a scale from 0 to 100 of which 100 translates to very clean while 0 translates to highly corrupt.
According to the Transparency International CPI information accessed by the Zambian Business Times -ZBT, Zambia was ranked 116 in 2022, 117 in 2021 and 2020, 113 in 2019 and 105 in 2018 out of 180 Countries and Territories. Over the five year period, it has actually deteriorated.
The CPI also indicated that Zambia’s average Corruption perception index for the past 5 year on the scale of 0 to 100 stood at 34 out of 100.
Out of 100, Zambia scored 33 in 2022, 2021 and 2020 respectively while in 2019 Zambia scored 34 and 35 in 2018 .
Meanwhile according to the 2022 CPI released at the end of January 2023 by TIZ Zambia, the 2022 CPI stagnated at 33/100 due to limited government and stakeholder action to address public procurement corruption, bribery in the private sector, and state capture on account of business interest funding political parties and campaigns.
The Score also stagnated due to limited transparency and accountability in the management of public funds and the abuse of public funds.
Transparency International Zambia is expected to release the 2023 report by the end of January 2024.