BY NATHAN GUMA
ZIMBABWE remains trapped in deep-rooted corruption, scoring just 22 out of 100 on the 2025 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), according to Transparency International’s latest report.
Transparency International’s CPI ranks 180 countries by perceived public sector corruption, using a scale from 0, which is considered highly corrupt, to 100, which is very clean.
The new score places Zimbabwe below the Sub-Saharan African average of 32 and far beneath the global average of 42.
The figures show a clear gap between Zimbabwe and several of its neighbours.
Regional scores
Botswana and Rwanda lead the continent with scores of 58, while Namibia (46) and South Africa (41) also performed much better.
Zimbabwe sits in the bottom group of countries on the index, ranking lower than Zambia (37) and Malawi (34), and only slightly ahead of Mozambique (21) and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (20).
The report says that corruption in Zimbabwe and similar countries is largely driven by the weakening of democratic safeguards and the political control of the justice system.
In such settings, leaders tend to concentrate power, limit independent oversight, and avoid real public accountability.
This allows powerful networks to take hold, with state resources being diverted for private benefit through large-scale corruption and state capture.
Sub-Saharan Africa
Across Sub-Saharan Africa, the lowest-scoring region in the world, corruption is also worsened by shrinking civic freedoms and weak transparency in political funding.
The report warns that restrictions on free speech, association, and protest are making it harder and more dangerous for journalists and whistleblowers to expose wrongdoing.
Where courts and justice institutions operate independently, corruption is usually lower, but in much of the region, those responsible for abuse often go unpunished.
The impact on ordinary people is serious, with the report saying that corruption in public spending has been undermining basic services such as health care, education, and clean water.
In Zimbabwe, this has deepened poverty and prolonged an economic crisis where private interests are put before public needs.
According to the report, without strong independent oversight and meaningful legal reforms, any government anti-corruption measures will remain weak and easily reversed.
First published by IOW Data
