• Corruption Perception Index targets the business community.
• For Zambia, the records of course have been going down.
• The perception to corruption is going up in the country compared to last year.

Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) says Zambia’s 2021 corruption perception has increased compared to what was reported last year.
Speaking to Money FM News ahead of this year’s commemoration of the International Ant-Corruption Day which falls on 9th December, Commission Spokesperson Queen Chibwe said the Corruption Perception Index (CPI) targets the business community which includes various business houses and firms who are asked to explain how their business interactions and transactions have been.
Mrs. Chibwe explained that the information that the business community will give becomes the perception for that particular year or the results that will be issued in the following year to try and see how a country is fairing with regards to the fight against corruption as people carry out their business.
“So for Zambia, the records of course have been going down, meaning that the perception to corruption is going up in the country when we compare from last year and what was reported this year.”
“So that being a perception, helps us understand that there is something that we need to do about it. It might not necessary be exactly what it is because we know that target is the business community but it gives us an idea that if people are perceiving them having interacted with the Zambian community in this way and that corruption is going high, it means we need to look around, search ourselves and be able to do something that about the Corruption Perception index,” Mrs. Chibwe said.
She added that the International Ant-Corruption Day presents an opportunity for the Commission to encourage citizens to fully participate in the fight against corruption.
“When we talk about Commemorating the International Anti-Corruption Day, it’s an opportunity for us to call upon every Zambian to take a stake in the fight against corruption,” she stated.
Meanwhile, Mrs. Chibwe said government pronouncements on the fight against corruption give law enforcement agencies the impetus to pursue cases without fear or favor.
“Just the pronouncement coming from the highest office in the country gives impetus to others because there is inspired by this person who really feels that corruption is a big hindrance to development in our country and so he has spoken and said there will be no sacred cows in the fight against corruption,.”
“The pronouncements give us leverage of what areas and opportunities we can look around and see we can involve in the fight against corruption,” she added.
And Commission Corporate Affairs Officer Christopher Chibanku challenged citizens to resist corruption and report to relevant authorities whenever they encounter corruption related issues.
“In an event where you encounter corruption, you have a responsibility to ensure that you resist participating in corruption and also you have a responsibility to ensure that you report each time you encounter corruption, it could be in your work place or in the community.”
“If you look at the aspect of work places, there are certain hot areas such as recruitment, promotions and also issues to do with procurement where you find people are using dubious means, so if you are an employ and you see all these issues happening around, you have a responsibility to report,” Mr. Chibanku stated.
Zambia will tomorrow Thursday 9th December, 2021 join the rest of the world in commemorating the International Anti-Corruption Day under the theme; Your Right, Your Role, say No to Corruption.