By Daily Revelation Editor
“It is also worth recalling that when Zambia’s score improved by 4 points in 2023 and by 2 points in 2024, the CPI was widely cited as evidence of progress in the anti-corruption fight. It is therefore inconsistent to celebrate the CPI when the score improves and to discredit it when the score declines,” stated Transparency International Zambia executive director Maurice Nyambe. “It is also notable that despite this double standard, the CPI is the main indicator of anti-corruption performance in the current Eight National Development Plan (8NDP).”
Nyambe wondered why the 2025 CPI was discredited when the 2023 and 2024 CPI which showed improvement in corruption perception was used widely as progress in the anti-corruption fight.
We clearly predicted that the government was going to dismiss the latest CPI report which did not reflect well on them, as it showed that the country had regressed in terms of the corruption Perception, where 98 countries were now viewed more positively as opposed to 91 countries the previous year.
We predicted the response from the government and the ACC that they were simply going to dismiss the report by declaring the same as simply a perception. Why? Because, generally governments usually have a tendency of adopting or banking on reports which paint them in positive light, something the latest perception did not do.
We urged that the government to take on board and act upon the underlying factors which had been identified in the report.
The report established vulnerabilities in areas such as collusion between business entities, public officials, and professional gatekeepers, vulnerabilities in government social empowerment programmes and absence of political and campaign financing law.
It specifically pointed towards how procurement processes are exploited through networks involving politically connected companies, lawyers, and real estate agents. It also pointed towards vulnerabilities in government social and empowerment programmes, including CEEC loans, farming input distribution, Cash-for-Work, and the Constituency Development Fund.
We stated that what could partly be contributing towards that perception was the fact that while the corruption fight was directed towards opposition or former ruling party figures, there were no corresponding arrests of especially serving senior government officials.
This was despite the ACC having indicated that they were investing several ministers and senior government officials for alleged corruption. And despite that announcement having been issued a long time ago, the investigative agencies stopped short of mentioning the names, save for Solicitor General Marshal Muchende, and a few permanent secretaries. The others who were being investigated were not mentioned and the nation has not been informed on the progress involving almost all the cases.
However, from the government’s and ACC’s response, we can clearly notice that there will be little focus in terms of working to address the underlying areas the CPI report identified.
What we have actually noted is that since the release of that report, the ACC has moved to clear the government officials who were being investigated by the ACC.
We are not really sure if the same is in an effort to try to cleanse that perception. But if it is, then it’s a very myopic way of going about the issue. Because for corruption to be truly combatted it requires firm determination and concerted effort on the part of the administration to combat graft wholly.
We would have expected that the government will embark on efforts by mobilising other investigative agencies and key civil society institutions like TIZ, in terms of mobilising forces to address the areas identified, including the others which were not mentioned in the CPI report.
In so doing, the government would be seen to be proactively working to root out corruption, not just by word of mouth but through tangible actions.
Related
By Daily Revelation Editor
“It is also worth recalling that when Zambia’s score improved by 4 points in 2023 and by 2 points in 2024, the CPI was widely cited as evidence of progress in the anti-corruption fight. It is therefore inconsistent to celebrate the CPI when the score improves and to discredit it when the score declines,” stated Transparency International Zambia executive director Maurice Nyambe. “It is also notable that despite this double standard, the CPI is the main indicator of anti-corruption performance in the current Eight National Development Plan (8NDP).”
Nyambe wondered why the 2025 CPI was discredited when the 2023 and 2024 CPI which showed improvement in corruption perception was used widely as progress in the anti-corruption fight.
We clearly predicted that the government was going to dismiss the latest CPI report which did not reflect well on them, as it showed that the country had regressed in terms of the corruption Perception, where 98 countries were now viewed more positively as opposed to 91 countries the previous year.
We predicted the response from the government and the ACC that they were simply going to dismiss the report by declaring the same as simply a perception. Why? Because, generally governments usually have a tendency of adopting or banking on reports which paint them in positive light, something the latest perception did not do.
We urged that the government to take on board and act upon the underlying factors which had been identified in the report.
The report established vulnerabilities in areas such as collusion between business entities, public officials, and professional gatekeepers, vulnerabilities in government social empowerment programmes and absence of political and campaign financing law.
It specifically pointed towards how procurement processes are exploited through networks involving politically connected companies, lawyers, and real estate agents. It also pointed towards vulnerabilities in government social and empowerment programmes, including CEEC loans, farming input distribution, Cash-for-Work, and the Constituency Development Fund.
We stated that what could partly be contributing towards that perception was the fact that while the corruption fight was directed towards opposition or former ruling party figures, there were no corresponding arrests of especially serving senior government officials.
This was despite the ACC having indicated that they were investing several ministers and senior government officials for alleged corruption. And despite that announcement having been issued a long time ago, the investigative agencies stopped short of mentioning the names, save for Solicitor General Marshal Muchende, and a few permanent secretaries. The others who were being investigated were not mentioned and the nation has not been informed on the progress involving almost all the cases.
However, from the government’s and ACC’s response, we can clearly notice that there will be little focus in terms of working to address the underlying areas the CPI report identified.
What we have actually noted is that since the release of that report, the ACC has moved to clear the government officials who were being investigated by the ACC.
We are not really sure if the same is in an effort to try to cleanse that perception. But if it is, then it’s a very myopic way of going about the issue. Because for corruption to be truly combatted it requires firm determination and concerted effort on the part of the administration to combat graft wholly.
We would have expected that the government will embark on efforts by mobilising other investigative agencies and key civil society institutions like TIZ, in terms of mobilising forces to address the areas identified, including the others which were not mentioned in the CPI report.
In so doing, the government would be seen to be proactively working to root out corruption, not just by word of mouth but through tangible actions.
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