Corruption in Zimbabwe has become endemic within its political, private and civil sectors. [1]
Corruption in Zimbabwe has become endemic within its political, private and civil sectors. [1]
The findings of a 2000 survey commissioned by Transparency International Zimbabwe found that Zimbabwean citizens regarded the public sector as the most corrupt sector in the country. In this survey respondents favoured the police as being most corrupt followed by political parties, parliament/legislature, public officials/civil servants and the judiciary. [2] In 2008, a Transparency International director announced that Zimbabwe loses US$5 million to corruption every day. [3]
On Transparency International's 2023 Corruption Perceptions Index, Zimbabwe scored 24 on a scale from 0 ("highly corrupt") to 100 ("very clean"). When ranked by score, Zimbabwe ranked 149th among the 180 countries in the Index, where the country ranked first is perceived to have the most honest public sector. [4] For comparison with worldwide scores, the best score was 90 (ranked 1), the average score was 43, and the worst score was 11 (ranked 180). [5] For comparison with regional scores, the average score among sub-Saharan African countries [Note 1] was 33. The highest score in sub-Saharan Africa was 71 and the lowest score was 11. [6]
In 2011, Finance Minister Tendai Biti claimed that at least US$1 billion in diamond-related revenue owed to the national treasury remains unaccounted for. Biti has blamed corruption, misappropriation and a lack of transparency for the systematic underselling of diamonds and the failure to recoup losses. [7] In an address to parliament, Biti said “it is worrying that there is no connection whatsoever between diamond exports made by Zimbabwe and the revenues realised thereof”. [8]
President Robert Mugabe and his politburo have also come under criticism for making personal benefits by assigning lucrative concessions in the Marange diamond fields to Chinese firms and the Zimbabwean military.[ citation needed ] The Zimbabwean military, which oversees the Marange fields, has been accused of systematic human rights abuses and smuggling of diamonds to neighbouring Mozambique. [9]
In January 2000, Fallot Chawaua, the Master of Ceremonies of a promotional lottery organised by the Zimbabwe Banking Corporation, announced that Robert Mugabe won the Z$100,000 first prize jackpot. [10] [11] The lottery was open to all clients who had kept Z$5,000 or more in their ZimBank accounts. [10] [11]
In March 2008, President Mugabe formally approved the Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Bill, which gave the government the right to seize a controlling 51% stake in foreign and white-owned businesses. [12] There are wide concerns that the beneficiaries of this Bill will be members of the ruling Zimbabwean elite, particularly after the enforcement of the Land Acquisition Act of 1992 and the Land Reform and Resettlement Programme Phase 2 of 1998 led to the misappropriation of commercial farm land and violent land invasions. [13] [14]
Anti-corruption efforts in Zimbabwe are governed by the following legislation:
The Zimbabwean Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) was established after the passing of the Anti-Corruption Commission Bill in June 2004. [14] The Commission is a signatory to the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) Protocol as well as the African Union (AU) and United Nations Convention on Anti-Corruption. However, according to a 2009 report by Global Integrity, the Commission is highly inefficient and “has very little authority to take steps aimed at stopping corruption in Zimbabwe”. [15] Out of 147 corruption cases reviewed by the Commission in 2006, only four were completed. [3] The ACC is currently chaired by Denfor Chirindo, who was appointed on 1 September 2011. [16]
Here is a list of reported corruption scandals in Zimbabwe since 1980:
Trevor Vusumuzi Ncube is a Zimbabwean entrepreneur and newspaper publisher now living in South Africa and publishing in both countries. As an editor and publisher, he was a critical voice in media of former Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe and his government.
Welshman Ncube is a Zimbabwean lawyer, businessman and politician. He is the founding MDC leader and former President of Zimbabwean political party Movement for Democratic Change – Ncube. He currently serves within the Citizen Coalition for Change (CCC). He is a practicing lawyer in the firm Mathonsi Ncube Law Chambers, where he is the senior partner at their Bulawayo offices. He also runs a number of business ventures, including a farm in the Midlands Province.
Political corruption in Ghana has been common since independence. Since 2017, Ghana's score on Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index has improved slightly from its low point that year, a score of 40 on a scale from 0 to 100. Ghana's score rose to 43 by 2020 and has remained there until the present, 2023. When ranked by score among the 180 countries in the 2023 Index, Ghana ranked 70th, where the country ranked first is perceived to have the most honest public sector. For comparison with worldwide scores, the best score was 90, the average score was 43, and the worst score was 11. For comparison with regional scores, the average score among sub-Saharan African countries was 33. The highest score in sub-Saharan Africa was 71 and the lowest score was 11.
Grace Ntombizodwa Mugabe is a Zimbabwean entrepreneur, politician and the widow of the late President Robert Mugabe. She served as the First Lady of Zimbabwe from 1996 until her husband's resignation in November 2017, a week after he was ousted from power. Starting as a secretary to Mugabe, she rose in the ranks of the ruling ZANU–PF party to become the head of its Women's League and a key figure in the Generation 40 faction. At the same time, she gained a reputation for privilege and extravagance during a period of economic turmoil in the country. She was given the nickname Gucci Grace due to her extravagance. She was expelled from the party, with other G40 members, during the 2017 Zimbabwean coup d'état.
The Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) was a Zimbabwean political party organised under the leadership of Morgan Tsvangirai. The MDC was formed in 1999 as an opposition party to President Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front (Zanu-PF). The MDC was made up of many civic groups who campaigned for the "No" vote in the 2000 constitutional referendum, which would limit a president's service to two terms, before the introduction of a prime minister, as well as giving legal immunities to the state.
Corruption in Botswana is usually regarded as one of the lowest in Africa. However, corruption is not eradicated and can still be seen in many different governmental sectors and in differing forms. Despite attempts at combating corruption, corruption in Botswana has started to get worse. The most common forms of corruption are nepotism or patronage.
While hard data on corruption is difficult to collect, corruption in Indonesia is clearly seen through public opinion, collated through surveys as well as observation of how each system runs.
Corruption in France describes the prevention and occurrence of corruption in France.
In 2013, a report by Transparency International revealed that political parties, Parliament, the judiciary and the military are the most corrupt institutions in Portugal. Transparency International's 2022 Corruption Perceptions Index ranks the country in 33rd place out of 180 countries in the Index.
Corruption in the Netherlands is minimal in all major areas—judiciary, police, business, politics—as the country is considered one of the least corrupt within the European Union.
Corruption in the Czech Republic is considered to be widespread by a majority of the Czech public, according to Transparency International’s Global Corruption Barometer 2013.
Corruption in Slovenia is examined on this page.
Corruption in Uganda is characterized by grand-scale theft of public funds and petty corruption involving public officials at all levels of society as well as widespread political patronage systems. Elite corruption in Uganda is through a patronage system which has been exacerbated by foreign aid. Aid has been providing the government with large amounts of resources that contribute to the corrupt practices going on within the country. The style of corruption that is used is to gain loyalty and support so that officials can remain in power. One of the more recent forms of corruption is through public procurement because of the lack of transparency with transactions that happen within the government.
Since independence, corruption has been more than prevalent in Cameroon. In fact, corruption has become pervasive and has affected all sectors of the government and civil society including the executive, judiciary, police, and even the private sector. The main causes being a deep lack of political will to fight corruption and neopatrimonialism. Other causes include; personal interests and absence of duty conscience, weak judiciary and almost nonexistent opposition in the legislative, nepotism and favouritism, ineffective system of accountability, among others.
On Transparency International's 2023 Corruption Perceptions Index, Senegal scored 43 on a scale from 0 to 100. When ranked by score, Senegal ranked 70th among the 180 countries in the Index, where the country ranked first is perceived to have the most honest public sector. For comparison with worldwide scores, Senegal's score was also the average score in 2023; the best score was 90 and the worst score was 11. For comparison with regional scores, the average score among sub-Saharan African countries was 33. The highest score in sub-Saharan Africa was 71 and the lowest score was 11.
There are several sectors in Ethiopia where businesses are particularly vulnerable to corruption. Land distribution and administration is a sector where corruption is institutionalized, and facilitation payments as well as bribes are often demanded from businesses when they deal with land-related issues.
Corruption is endemic at every level of Liberian society, making Liberia one of the most politically corrupt nations in the world. As such, corruption is not specifically a punishable crime under Liberian law, which further exacerbates the nature of corruption present in the country. When President Sirleaf took office in 2006, she announced that corruption was “the major public enemy.”
Corruption in South Sudan is among the worst in the world. The nation's elites have developed a kleptocratic system that controls every part of the South Sudanese economy. This system has taken shape quickly in a relatively short period, South Sudan having won self-rule in 2005 while remaining part of Sudan, and having been accorded full sovereignty in 2011.
Corruption in Chad is characterized by nepotism and cronyism. Chad received a score of 20 in the 2023 Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index on a scale from 0 to 100. When ranked by score, Chad ranked 162nd among the 180 countries in the Index, where the country ranked first is perceived to have the most honest public sector. For comparison with worldwide scores, the best score was 90, the average score was 43, and the worst score was 11. For comparison with regional scores, the average score among sub-Saharan African countries was 33. The highest score in sub-Saharan Africa was 71 and the lowest score was 11.
Corruption is endemic in Sierra Leone. Sierra Leone is widely considered to be one of the most politically and economically corrupt nations in the world and international rankings reflect this. Transparency International's 2023 Corruption Perceptions Index scored Sierra Leone at 35 on a scale from 0 to 100. When ranked by score, Sierra Leone ranked 108th among the 180 countries in the Index, where the country ranked first is perceived to have the most honest public sector. For comparison with worldwide scores, the best score was 90, the average score was 43, and the worst score was 11. For comparison with regional scores, the average score among sub-Saharan African countries was 33. The highest score in sub-Saharan Africa was 71 and the lowest score was 11. The 2018 Global Competitiveness Report ranked Sierra Leone 109th out of 140 countries for Incidence of Corruption, with country 140 having the highest incidence of corruption. Corruption is prevalent in many aspects of society in Sierra Leone, especially in the aftermath of the Sierra Leone Civil War. The illicit trade in conflict diamonds funded the rebel Revolutionary United Front (RUF) forces during the civil war, leading to fighting between the Sierra Leone Army and the RUF for control of the diamond mines. Widespread corruption in the health care sector has limited access to medical care, with health care workers often dependent on receiving bribes to supplement their low pay.