Zim police most corrupt

Zimbabwean police top the list of corrupt institutions, according to the latest graft survey. Transparency International's Global Corruption Barometer 2010 (GCB) also found that 55% of Zimbabweans think corruption has increased over the past year.

The survey, released last week, found a general increase in corruption. Among the reasons were attempts to avoid problems with authorities, attempts to obtain service and attempts to speed things up. Of a total of 1014 people surveyed, 27% think corruption has decreased.

However, the survey also revealed a willingness from the public to contribute to the fight against corruption if given the means and opportunity to do so - 71% of respondents said ordinary people can make a difference in the fight against corruption. By the same token, 66% of respondents indicated that they would report an incident of corruption.

The GCB 2010 survey centred on petty bribery cases and showed that last year, 52% of respondents reported paying a bribe. Of these, 60% were men while 44% were females. At least 49% of bribe-payers belong to the higher-income quintile, while 42% are lower income earners.

The survey said the results reflected the opportunistic nature of corruption as experienced by the ordinary citizen. It said a person's susceptibility to corruption was often influenced by their economic activity or position of leadership.

According to the survey, the Zimbabwe Republic Police stood out as the biggest recipient of bribes among service providers.

The results reinforces the experiences that Transparency International Zimbabwe (TI-Z) has had in dealing with corruption in the public sector. Last year, the Advocacy and Legal Advice Centre received numerous complaints about corrupt police officers.

Information gathered through community meetings revealed that officers were taking advantage of the booming informal sector by demanding bribes from traders, most of whom are not licensed to operate.

In some cases, they sought bribes from people accused of crimes for them to evade being tried.

TI-Z called on the Ministry of Home Affairs to deal with this development. The organisation said citizens should not suffer at the hands of police officers whose mandate is to protect the society. It said it was time Home Affairs formulated and implemented an effective anti-graft strategy.

"The message from the 2010 barometer is that there is an institutional crisis with regards to corruption. As shown in the survey, the top five of the most corrupt institutions as perceived by the public are government oversight bodies, public institutions and law enforcement agents.

"However, the good news is that people are ready to act," said Mary-Jane Ncube, executive director for TI-Z.