Zimbabwe is losing $1bn a year to corruption-Transparency International

Transparency International in a recent report said Zimbabwe loses about 1 billion US dollars in revenue every year mostly because of government officials who engage in corruption.

The report which was released on Tuesday indicates that the resulting institutionalization and systematization of corruption in Zimbabwean political and economic spheres has been extensive.

Social media groups like #ThisFlag and #Tajamuka have cited corruption in President Robert Mugabe’s government and police roadblocks where money is taken from motorists as among the main reasons for protests that have rocked the southern African nation in the last few months.

“The idea behind it is to quantify and qualitatively analyse the causes of corruption in our society as Zimbabweans and hopefully also offer recommendations of how to tackle corruption as it affects different members of society and different sectors of society” Mary Jane Ncube, Executive Director at Transparency International Zimbabwe.

Critics and the opposition have accused Mugabe of failing to tackle high-level graft, saying endemic corruption is one reason foreign companies are hesitant to invest in the country.

The southern African country was last year ranked 150th out of 168 countries on the Transparency International index, which measures public perceptions of corruption in public institutions.

An official at the Swedish embassy, Maria Serlin said the study shows that Zimbabwe is facing a real problem with corruption.

“They talk about it being systemic, endemic and I said in my opening remarks that the report also goes as far as saying that it’s been the way of doing business that business people will count the cost of corruption into their calculations which is a real problem obviously,” she added.

“Corruption is not necessarily perpetuated by government or civil servants but its across the board, private sector is involved in corruption, opposition are also involved in corruption in fact there was a surge in corruption,“said Daniel Shumba, a member of parliament from the ruling ZANU PF party.

How transparent is the Transparency International report on alleged corruption in Zimbabwe https://t.co/SGLBdOeFv8

— Mutumwa (@mmawere) October 6, 2016

Zimbabwe’s tax authority had in May suspended its head and five managers in connection with the purchase of luxury cars that were undervalued by a local dealer.