THE 2012 Corruption Perception Index (CPI) has revealed that Zambia is making significant progress in the fight against corruption.
Zambia, Malawi, Morocco and Swaziland stand at 37 points on the log which has Botswana with the highest score of 65 out of 100, reflecting lower levels of corruption in the public sector.
CPI ranks countries or territories based on how corrupt a country’s public sector is perceived. It is a composite index and combination of surveys of corruption collected by a variety of reputable institutions.
Speaking at the launch of the CPI in Lusaka yesterday, Transparency International Zambia outgoing president Reuben Lifuka said 11 African countries had performed better than Zambia which included Botswana 65 scores, Rwanda 53, and Seychelles 52.
Others were Namibia 48, Lesotho and Ghana with 45 each, South Africa 43, Liberia 41, Tunisia 41 and Burkina Faso 38.
In the 2011 CPI, 10 countries performed better than Zambia.
Zambia had in the 2011 CPI scored 3.2 per cent from a total score of 10 points, which had been adjusted upwards, from zero score to 100.
“While it is appreciated that we are making some progress on the CPI it is hardly gratifying to note that the country has a score of less than 50.The political leaders should demonstrate eagerness to rooting out public sector corruption,” he said
Mr Lifuka who is a member of the international board of directors of Transparency International said the 2012 CPI should be used as a reference point to assess what progress Zambia had made in the last two to three years.
Mr Lifuka said the released results would mark a reference point in the approach towards fight against corruption by all stakeholders especially President Michael Sata and the Patriotic Front administration.
He said Government should not merely make pronouncements on fighting corruption but should lead by example in the conduct of leaders.
“It is discouraging to hear allegations and counter allegations of corruption against political leaders, this simply demonstrates that we still have a long way and the fight against corruption needs further strengthening,” Mr Lifuka said
He said the fight against corruption should be fought vigorously by all stakeholders with support from the church, media and the international community.
Mr Lifuka said there should be no sacred cows or protection of anybody from prosecution if there was overwhelming evidence.
African Parliamentarians Network Against Corruption (APNAC) chairperson Cornelius Mweetwa called for concerted efforts in fighting corruption.
The data on Zambia was sourced from among other institutions the African Development Bank country performance ratings and World Bank-country performance and institutional assessment.
37 out of 100 should be an “F”! What can be worse than that?
Cooked figures,lies,damned lies and statistics.Put Fred Mmembe ,Nchito and other hidden buddies of Sata into the picture and you’ll be asking for a puke bucket.
Clearly, Zambia deserves a big ass F for fail. With people like Kabimba acting like they are above the law, our rating should really be a minus 2 right now.
I wonder what the Justice Minister has to say about these numbers.
You are so correct. Zambia is a corrupt country. That’s the way it is. We are not different from the usual suspects, like Nigeria and DRC. But we like to cheat ourselves that we are a little bit better than others.
Is it surprising when you have a Justice Minister hauling cadres to a serious ACC appointment?
Defective tools of analysis and what was the sample size? I am sure that excluded representation of croocks like Winter, Fred, DPP, GMB, Zamtel ***** MD, The ***** Kambwili, Ukwa and Kaseba to mention but a few. Its a pity Z,ambians have not taken research seriously no wonder results always reflect personal opinions, jaundiced results.
And this progress is only by 0.5 percent from last year’s figure. This is still F.
37 % ??? I never give anybody such a grade, unless he is extremely useless, and I attach a 2 page report why he should change the career.
it was far worse off in RB’s time than now…
SA beating Zambia hell No something not right about these statistics…..
This is an improvement compared to the time of RB were Zambia was rated below 20%.In the next few yrs,it will be 50% and am pretty sure!!! This Government is better that any other in the history of Zambia.
Its only a CPI afterall which means perception,discernment ,judgementor observation.Anything based off perception could also miss out a lot of reality.In essence corruption in zambia could be worse than before or just slightly lower.The accusations surrounding Sata’s confidants of course do not inspire confidence even with this “improved” report.
This headline is ridiculous. From 32 points to 37 points and still in very corrupt bracket is not significant.
Is Kabimba included in the Reserch
Next year number 99.
just joking it will be 2.
the fight against corruption is hogwash…
Big shots will never set an example, they are in power to line their pockets…
day before yesterday FTJ, yesterday Rupiah and his sons Jimbo and Henry, Dora, Mwale, situmbeko and today Winter , fat Godfrey,…
Watch the video “Why poverty ?” and you will understand…
@10. Paolo di Canio. RB under 20%? Did you pass your comprehension lessons at school? Remember those class lessons when you were given a passage or more to read and you’re then asked questions centred on what you’ve just read. I doubt that you learnt anything! Sad!
This time the crooks are getting smarter.
The important information in this announcement is that Zambia was ranked 11th in Africa in 2010 and is now ranked 12th.
Zambia has dropped from position 11 to 12 and that should NOT be called progress by any well meaning person.
If you were looking at percentage points only without considering the position would you call an improvement from 32% to 37 % , significant progress?
We really have too many ffools in Zambia….
Perception Perception!
These guys have no clue what’s on the ground in Z. If the Minister of Justice can behave the way he did only to be defended by the president by castigating the hard working Zambians who thot the president had zero tolerance to corruption, how can that ever be improvement?
Ma rubbish!
The MOCK in DeMOCKracy, the ASS in MASSes and the FOOL in PF!
the F0.0L in PF.
Considering that Zambia got only 3 out of 10, along side Malawi and Swaziland, what is there to be proud of? And what significant progress is that?
BOTSWANA