News / National
Zimbabwe rated as the third most corrupt country in Africa
14 Nov 2013 at 03:37hrs | Views
A report released in Dakar, Senegal, on Wednesday by Afrobarometer shows that corruption is on the rise in most African countries, with Zimbabwe rated as the third most corrupt country in Africa at 81 percent, behind joint leaders Nigeria and Egypt at 82 percent.
Afrobarometer interviewed more than 51,000 people in surveys between October 2011 and June this year. Fifty-six percent of the people interviewed said their governments have done a "fairly" or "very bad" job fighting corruption, while just 35 percent said their governments have done "fairly" or "very well".
Corruption in Zimbabwe increased by 43 percent between 2002 and 2012, according to Afrobarometer. Malawi is rated as the least corrupt country.
Police attracted the highest ratings of corruption among public officials across the 34 countries, with 43 percent saying that "most" or "all" were involved in corruption. The figure was as high as 78 percent in Nigeria and 69 percent in Kenya and Sierra Leone - but just 14 percent in Algeria.
Government and tax officials also scored badly, while judges and heads of state fared best in the survey, carried out between October 2011 and June 2013.
Thirty percent reported paying a bribe in the past year to obtain a service or avoid a problem, with the figure rising to 63 percent in Sierra Leone, one of the world's poorest countries after a brutal 11-year civil war that ended in 2002.
Morocco, Guinea and Kenya all fared badly while fewer people said they had paid bribes in Namibia, Mauritius, Cape Verde and Botswana.
The International Monetary Fund projects that sub-Saharan Africa will grow at 5.7 percent in 2013, outpacing most regions and rivalling Asia's boom markets.
But while strides have been made in reducing the numbers of Africans living on less $1.25 a day, more than a third of the world's extreme poor still live in sub-Saharan Africa.
The Afrobarometer research project involves a number of independent African organisations and measures public attitudes on economic, political and social matters in sub-Saharan Africa.
Its report, titled "Governments Falter in Fight to Curb Corruption: The people give most a failing grade", also found that the poorest were punished the most by corruption.
Almost one in five people who had gone without food in the past year had paid a bribe to obtain medical treatment, compared with just over one in 10 among those who never went without food.
The UN food agency said in October that the region had the highest prevalence of hunger, with 24.8 percent - or 223 million people - undernourished, though the figure had dropped by almost a third over the previous 20 years.
"The research suggests African governments need to step up their efforts to curb corruption, in the interests of both reducing poverty and advancing democracy," the report said.
Afrobarometer interviewed more than 51,000 people in surveys between October 2011 and June this year. Fifty-six percent of the people interviewed said their governments have done a "fairly" or "very bad" job fighting corruption, while just 35 percent said their governments have done "fairly" or "very well".
Corruption in Zimbabwe increased by 43 percent between 2002 and 2012, according to Afrobarometer. Malawi is rated as the least corrupt country.
Police attracted the highest ratings of corruption among public officials across the 34 countries, with 43 percent saying that "most" or "all" were involved in corruption. The figure was as high as 78 percent in Nigeria and 69 percent in Kenya and Sierra Leone - but just 14 percent in Algeria.
Government and tax officials also scored badly, while judges and heads of state fared best in the survey, carried out between October 2011 and June 2013.
Thirty percent reported paying a bribe in the past year to obtain a service or avoid a problem, with the figure rising to 63 percent in Sierra Leone, one of the world's poorest countries after a brutal 11-year civil war that ended in 2002.
Morocco, Guinea and Kenya all fared badly while fewer people said they had paid bribes in Namibia, Mauritius, Cape Verde and Botswana.
But while strides have been made in reducing the numbers of Africans living on less $1.25 a day, more than a third of the world's extreme poor still live in sub-Saharan Africa.
The Afrobarometer research project involves a number of independent African organisations and measures public attitudes on economic, political and social matters in sub-Saharan Africa.
Its report, titled "Governments Falter in Fight to Curb Corruption: The people give most a failing grade", also found that the poorest were punished the most by corruption.
Almost one in five people who had gone without food in the past year had paid a bribe to obtain medical treatment, compared with just over one in 10 among those who never went without food.
The UN food agency said in October that the region had the highest prevalence of hunger, with 24.8 percent - or 223 million people - undernourished, though the figure had dropped by almost a third over the previous 20 years.
"The research suggests African governments need to step up their efforts to curb corruption, in the interests of both reducing poverty and advancing democracy," the report said.
Source - Zimdiaspora | Afrobarometer
