|
Back to Index
Corruption
on the rise in Zimbabwe, index shows
Mail
& Guardian (SA)
December 01, 2006
http://www.mg.co.za/articlepage.aspx?area=/breaking_news/breaking_news__africa/&articleid=291917
Global anti-corruption
group Transparency International says corruption is on the rise
in Zimbabwe, ranking the country 130th out of 150 countries polled.
Transparency’s
corruption perception index (CPI), which is updated every year,
ranks countries according to perceived levels of corruption as determined
by expert assessments and opinion surveys.
Zimbabwe was
last year ranked 107th on the CPI, which some foreign investors
are increasingly paying attention to before deciding where to place
their investments.
According to
the latest corruption survey, Zimbabwe, grappling with its worst-ever
economic crisis, is placed in the same category with strife-torn
countries such as Burundi and the Central African Republic.
Azerbaijan,
Ethiopia, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and Togo are also in the same
bracket as Zimbabwe.
The best-ranked
Southern African country on the CPI is Botswana at number 37, followed
by South Africa at 51 and Namibia at 55.
President Robert
Mugabe last year launched a crackdown on corruption that has seen
a handful of senior officials of his ruling Zanu-PF party and government,
such as former deputy finance minister Chris Kuruneri, facing prosecution.
But analysts
say the anti-corruption drive has been selective and half-hearted,
citing for example attempts by the government to sweep under the
carpet a report by the National Economic Conduct Inspectorate detailing
high-level corruption at state-run steel maker ZiscoSteel.
"If you
look at the things that have developed such as the Zisco scandal
and Zupco cases it shows that there is a lot of sleaze in the country,
especially at the top level," said Harare-based economic analyst
James Jowah, adding that the poor ranking on the corruption index
would damage Zimbabwe's drive to woo foreign investors. -- ZimOnline
Please credit www.kubatana.net if you make use of material from this website.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License unless stated otherwise.
TOP
|
