By Daily Revelation Editor
Transparency International Zambia (TI-Z) yesterday presented the Corruption Perception Index (CPI) which established that Zambia has dropped from the score of 39 in 2024 to 37 in 2025.
TI-Z president Priscilla Chansa said the country’s ranking dropped from 92 in 2024 to 99 in 2025, meaning there were 98 countries that were performing better than Zambia 2025 than the 91 a year earlier.
The drop marked the first time the country had experienced regression in the last five years, something TI-Z said showed serious challenges in sustaining the country’s anti-corruption efforts.
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.
“Despite increased allocations, audits continue to reveal financial irregularities, poor loan recovery, and politicisation — particularly in areas considered political strongholds. Third, the absence of a political party and campaign financing,” said Chansa .
Clearly, the report is saying that instead of making progress Zambia is regressing in terms of the fight against corruption.
This is especially damning on the UPND administration which was elected on the platform of fighting corruption, and promised to do just that following their election into public office. We heard how President Hakainde Hichilema would from time to time mention about how committed he was to rid the country of corruption.
And we also saw how the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) and other investigative agencies went about dishing out arrests, but heavily against officials that had served in the previous PF administration. Of course, convictions were recorded against most of those who were arrested, while court matters involving the others are still ongoing.
However, that momentum that was directed towards opposition or former ruling party figures mainly swung in one direction as there were no corresponding arrests of especially serving senior government officials. This was despite the ACC having indicated that they were investigating 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 have not been mentioned and the nation has not been informed on the progress involving almost all the cases.
However, the fact that the country has regressed in terms of corruption perception shows that corruption in this country is still rife and needs firm commitment to be addressed.
The report has pointed out key vulnerabilities where corruption is still rife, including through networks involving politically connected companies, lawyers, and real estate agents.
The other areas include vulnerabilities in government social and empowerment programmes, including CEEC loans, farming input distribution, Cash-for-Work, and the Constituency Development Fund.
The question now is what will the government and the investigative agencies do about the situation? Rather than being dismissive, as governments usually do, especially over reports which do not paint them in positive light, moreso in this election year, we urge them to take this report seriously, study it and undertake work towards addressing vulnerabilities identified.
We are also alive to the fact that apart from the vulnerabilities identified, there are many others which exist, which they also must undertake to address.
The lesson from this report is that corruption in the country is still rife, and requires firmness, commitment and national patriotism to proactively combat.
Related
By Daily Revelation Editor
Transparency International Zambia (TI-Z) yesterday presented the Corruption Perception Index (CPI) which established that Zambia has dropped from the score of 39 in 2024 to 37 in 2025.
TI-Z president Priscilla Chansa said the country’s ranking dropped from 92 in 2024 to 99 in 2025, meaning there were 98 countries that were performing better than Zambia 2025 than the 91 a year earlier.
The drop marked the first time the country had experienced regression in the last five years, something TI-Z said showed serious challenges in sustaining the country’s anti-corruption efforts.
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.
“Despite increased allocations, audits continue to reveal financial irregularities, poor loan recovery, and politicisation — particularly in areas considered political strongholds. Third, the absence of a political party and campaign financing,” said Chansa .
Clearly, the report is saying that instead of making progress Zambia is regressing in terms of the fight against corruption.
This is especially damning on the UPND administration which was elected on the platform of fighting corruption, and promised to do just that following their election into public office. We heard how President Hakainde Hichilema would from time to time mention about how committed he was to rid the country of corruption.
And we also saw how the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) and other investigative agencies went about dishing out arrests, but heavily against officials that had served in the previous PF administration. Of course, convictions were recorded against most of those who were arrested, while court matters involving the others are still ongoing.
However, that momentum that was directed towards opposition or former ruling party figures mainly swung in one direction as there were no corresponding arrests of especially serving senior government officials. This was despite the ACC having indicated that they were investigating 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 have not been mentioned and the nation has not been informed on the progress involving almost all the cases.
However, the fact that the country has regressed in terms of corruption perception shows that corruption in this country is still rife and needs firm commitment to be addressed.
The report has pointed out key vulnerabilities where corruption is still rife, including through networks involving politically connected companies, lawyers, and real estate agents.
The other areas include vulnerabilities in government social and empowerment programmes, including CEEC loans, farming input distribution, Cash-for-Work, and the Constituency Development Fund.
The question now is what will the government and the investigative agencies do about the situation? Rather than being dismissive, as governments usually do, especially over reports which do not paint them in positive light, moreso in this election year, we urge them to take this report seriously, study it and undertake work towards addressing vulnerabilities identified.
We are also alive to the fact that apart from the vulnerabilities identified, there are many others which exist, which they also must undertake to address.
The lesson from this report is that corruption in the country is still rife, and requires firmness, commitment and national patriotism to proactively combat.
Related
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Those seeking leadership must demonstrate they don’t agree with the corruption of PF, UPND – CF
ePaper No.363, Feb 11-12, 2025
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