2009 Assessment

This peer-reviewed country report includes:

Integrity Indicators Scorecard: Scores, scoring criteria, commentary, references, and peer review perspectives for more than 300 Integrity Indicators.

Reporter's Notebook: An on-the-ground look at corruption and integrity from a leading local journalist.

Corruption Timeline: Ten years of political context to today's corruption and integrity issues.

The 2008 elections gave Zimbabwe's leading opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change, a majority in Parliament and a stake in the executive branch. However, the true gain in influence for the MDC has been small. The legislature's role in policymaking is often bypassed through the use of executive orders, while policy explanations offered by the executive branch often go unquestioned by media. The 2008 political power sharing agreement (entitled the Global Political Agreement) has not led to increased accountability on the part of Zimbabwe's extremely powerful executive. The courts have no power to review executive decisions and conflicts of interest regulations are absent. The president also enjoys the unchecked authority to appoint both the judges to the country's highest court and the heads of the police force. However, the Global Political Agreement did mandate a revamping of the anti-corruption commission which had previously served as an "expensive smokescreen to cover-up corruption." The unprecedented hyperinflation in Zimbabwe has increased the potential for corruption in the customs agency and the budget making process. In the midst of this economic crisis, the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority is offering monetary rewards to citizens who report fraud in an attempt to curb the misappropriation of government funds.