THE Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (Zacc) says it will launch a national corruption perception index report as it intensifies the fight against graft.
This comes after Transparency International Zimbabwe (TIZ) recently released the global 2021 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) report which showed that Zimbabwe is not progressing in the fight against corruption.
The global CPI report scored Zimbabwe 23 out of 100, giving the country a global ranking of 157 out of 180 countries.
Zacc deputy chairperson Kuziva Murapa said the results of the global CPI report showed the need for long lasting solutions in fighting corruption and the commission would play its part by launching a national CPI report.
“Zaccc has made strides in coming up with the national CPI report and to date the commission has gathered views of Zimbabwean citizens in order to come up with the report. We are quite advanced, the data collection process has been completed and we are now factoring, processing, analysing and seeing what results we will come up with,” Murapa said in Bulawayo recently.
“In our research we defined corruption perception indicators that will be tested to define public perception of corruption in the country. These indicators are comparable to those used by TIZ in coming up with a perception index.
“We are convinced that collecting views of our citizens across the board will go a long way in helping us come up with more informed strategies in the fight against corruption in the country.”
He said Zacc was not satisfied with the conviction rate of the corrupt so far and urged partners in the justice delivery system to expedite prosecution of cases brought to them by the commission.
“We also implore our State partners who subscribe to anti-corruption tenets and principles to cooperate with us in reigning in cross-border and international corruption, especially related to asset hiding. In some of our State partners there are assets which we are very keen to recover. Without the return of these assets, the rights of our people continue to be trampled on. Cooperation in international asset recovery is critical in the fight against corruption,” Murapa said.
“We are also urging the government to expedite the enactment of a robust whistleblower protection law and to ensure protection of whistleblowers who are important in exposing and bringing to the attention of the commission cases of corruption.”
He said the adverse effects of corruption have negatively impacted on the socio-economic factors in the country.
“The efforts being made by the government for a 2030 middle income economy can only be achieved through a deliberate and sustained effort in fighting corruption,” Murapa added.
by
Hazel Marimbiza
in BULAWAYO