Transparency International Zambia (TI-Z) has monitored recent stakeholder reactions to the 2025 Corruption Perceptions Index results for Zambia. TI-Z welcomes the interest of stakeholders, including the Ministry of Information and Media and the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), in the CPI results and welcomes this open engagement. However, we are concerned by the double standard of questioning the methodology of the CPI only when the results are not favourable, as we have seen no such criticism when Zambia’s CPI score improved in 2023 and 2024.
The CPI is a global index produced by Transparency International that ranks the performance of 182 countries and territories based on the level of public-sector corruption, using a scale from 0 (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean). The score is not based on a single report, nor is it computed by TI-Z. It aggregates data from multiple independent sources, including assessments by the World Bank, the World Economic Forum, and the African Development Bank, among others. These sources capture expert and business assessments of public sector corruption risks and not perceptions or views of the general public. Expert perceptions are a valid source of evidence in qualitative research as the respondents provide information based on their direct interaction with public officials.
Importantly, the CPI methodology has undergone independent external validation. The European Commission Joint Research Centre reviewed the CPI in 2014 and again in 2017, certifying the CPI’s methodology as statistically and conceptually coherent and rigorous. The methodology used today continues to follow that certified framework.
TI-Z would also like to clarify that the CPI results are not derived from the FIC Trends Report or any other government report. TI-Z’s reference to the FIC reports, Auditor General findings, CDF audit observations, and other public documents only formed part of the national-level contextual analysis of corruption risks. That analysis is aimed at explaining the findings in the local context but does not generate Zambia’s CPI score. Suggesting that Zambia’s 2-point decline on the CPI is on account of using misleading local reports misinforms the public about how the index is computed.
It is also worth recalling that when Zambia’s score improved by 4 points in 2023 and by 2 points in 2024, the CPI was widely cited as evidence of progress in the anti-corruption fight. It is therefore inconsistent to celebrate the CPI when the score improves and to discredit it when the score declines. It is also notable that despite this double standard, the CPI is the main indicator of anti-corruption performance in the current Eight National Development Plan (8NDP).
Finally, TI-Z would like to remind stakeholders that the CPI is not an attack on government but is a measure of progress for all anti-corruption efforts, including those implemented by non-state actors. The appropriate response to a decline is not to question the instrument, but to interrogate the underlying causes and recommendations. Stakeholders should therefore focus on upscaling anti-corruption efforts, particularly around political integrity, procurement enforcement, oversight follow-up, and campaign finance regulation.
TI-Z remains committed to constructive engagement with the government and all relevant stakeholders. The fight against corruption requires evidence-based reform, consistency in standards, and a shared commitment to accountability — regardless of whether the results are politically convenient or not.
Maurice K. Nyambe (Mr.)
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
For more details, get in touch with the TI-Z Communications Officer, Ms. Zanji Valerie Sinkala on zsinkala@tizambia.org.zm
