A recent report by Transparency International (TI) has singled out the police force as the most corrupt public institution in Southern Africa.
In a report entitled Daily Lives and Corruption: Public Opinion in Southern Africa, people in six countries — the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe — named the police force as the most corrupt service provider among the nine institutions covered by the survey.
Part of the report reads: “The police are perceived to be the most corrupt institution across all countries.
This correlates with the finding that bribes were more often paid to the police than any other institution – 49% of people who had been in contact with the police reported having paid a bribe.”
“In all southern African countries surveyed, the police was perceived to be the most corrupt institution. In five out of the six countries surveyed, the next most corrupt institution was political parties.
Concerns about corruption in these two institutions are clearly shared across the region,” part of the report reads.
According to the report, 53% of the Zimbabwean respondents reported to have paid a bribe to the police, 39% at the registry and permit services, and 36% at border posts.
“People in Zimbabwe had the highest likelihood of paying a bribe for services they were entitled to, with more than a quarter of respondents citing this reason,” the report said.
