ZIMBABWE has been ranked the most corrupt country in Southern Africa after being placed on position 163 out of 176 countries in a recent survey conducted by Transparency International. Veneranda Langa Senior Parliamentary Reporter
The 2012 Corruption Perceptions Index, which ranks countries and territories based on how corrupt their public sector is perceived, indicated that Zimbabwe’s corruption record continued to worsen after falling nine places from 154 last year.
According to the latest report, Botswana was ranked as the least corrupt country in the region at number 30, followed by Namibia (58), South Africa (64), Lesotho (64), Swaziland (88), Zambia (88), Malawi (88) and Mozambique (123).
“Governments need to integrate anti-corruption actions into all aspects of decision-making,” said Transparency International in a statement.
“They must prioritise better rules on lobbying and political financing, make public spending and contracting more transparent, and make public bodies more accountable.”
The report singled out the police as the most corrupt government department. Denmark, Finland and New Zealand were rated as the least-corrupt, while Afghanistan, North Korea and Somalia were categorised as the most corrupt in the world.
In September, the Anti-Corruption Trust (ACT) of Southern Africa published another damning report citing high levels of corruption in Zimbabwe, particularly in the diamond mining sector.
Some of the corruption cases cited by ACT are the War Victims Compensation Fund, VIP housing scam, Zimbabwe Iron and Steel Company (Zisco) scandal, and the Zimbabwe United Passenger Company (Zupco) scam, among others.
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The report revealed that in most cases the culprits — mostly top government officials — were not brought to book.
