Report Corruption

Corruption is experienced on a daily basis by many people in Zambia and has devastating effects on their lives. However, we rarely talk about it.

The prevalence of corruption and silence around it makes corruption feel like an inevitable part of our daily lives. But it does not have to be this way, together we have the power to stop corruption.

TI-Z’s Advocacy and Legal Centre for Citizens – ALAC

Why report to ALAC?

Fighting corruption is our mission. We know corruption and we know how to deal with it.

When you report your case through TI-Z, you’re not sitting alone with the authorities, but you have a brave and powerful ally on your side:

• You get free legal advice on submitted complaints.

• We help you understand what rights you are entitled to in your case and possible remedies.

• We advise you on how to proceed.

• We link you to the appropriate institution to follow your case.

• We update you regularly on what happens

• You get a close monitoring of progress towards addressing your case by mandated institutions.

• We periodically sit down with authorities to review pending cases.
• We do not expose your identity if you don’t want to

How to report?

Fill in the reporting corruption form on this webpage. We will receive your complaint and contact you to schedule a meeting.

Alternatively, you can contact us in a number of ways:

+260 973 683 431 / +260 955 504 535

alac@tizambia.org.zm

You can visit us at our office or send us a letter: 128 Mwambula Road, Jesmondine, Lusaka, Zambia

If you want to share your story with other people to show everyone how pervasive corruption is, you can visit our Share Your Story portal.

What do we need from you?

In order for ALAC to take up your case and bring justice to your case, we need you to provide sufficient details on your case.

• Your contact details, so we can contact you and request more information about the case
• Don’t worry! We will not disclose your identity and keep your report anonymous

Complete information about everything that happened. The more information and evidence you bring, the quicker ALAC can process your case.

What happens when you report

• After you provide the initial information, ALAC will reach out to you within 72 hours (by phone or inviting you for a meeting) so that we can go through the report, together and in-depth.

• ALAC analyses your report and the evidence submitted to assess whether it’s a corruption or maladministration report or not, and whether the report is backed up by sufficient evidence

• If the evidence is not sufficient, ALAC will contact you, explain the situation and provide legal advice with possible remedies on how to proceed

• If the evidence is sufficient, ALAC will refer the case to the relevant authority or Law Enforcement Agency (LEA). They will take it from there.

• ALAC will provide you with legal advice, follow-up periodically with the authorities or other government institutions to receive updates on the investigation.

• TI-Z has signed agreements with several Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs). This means that LEAs are required to update TI-Z on the cases investigated and provide final feedback on the outcome of a case.

What we can’t offer

1. Investigate 
2. Represent you in court or prosecute your matter
3. Support to cases that are before another office or before the court of law

We don’t have the power nor the mandate to prosecute cases. We can’t conduct investigations on our own and prosecute wrongdoers.

When we research your case, we aim to find out 

• whether the report is corruption or maladministration related, or not

• whether there is enough evidence to graduate the report into a case

• how to proceed

We can’t handle your case if it’s already handled by another office or before court

We can’t represent you in court

We can’t handle your case if there is no legal backing

ALAC Statistics from 2024

Cases overview

• Between January and October 2024, TI-Z received 149 reports, three quarters of which were corruption reports

• So far, 35 reports have been referred to law enforcement agencies and authorities, such as ACC and OPPZ, while most of the reports (62) are still being researched by TI-Z to determine whether they are corruption related, whether there is sufficient evidence, and to assess which institution these cases should be referred to

• Only 23 reports (15%) were rejected due to insufficient evidence

Main findings

• The most prevalent types of corruption that were reported to TI-Z in 2024 are maladministration (incompetent or corrupt public administration that creates injustice) and abuse of function (misuse of a position of power to take unjust advantage of individuals; this includes nepotism, abuse of office, cronyism, patronage).

• The most affected economic sector by corruption is land and real estate, accounting for 30% of all corruption reports received.

• The most affected institutions are local authorities (district, municipal and town councils), accounting for 44% of all corruption reports received.

The most affected processes by corruption are service delivery and issuing a license.

Who reports?

• Two-thirds of all TI-Z complainants are men. This could be a sign that women face socio-economic barriers that make it harder for them to report corruption. It should not be like this. If you are a woman and you are victim or witness and act of corruption, you should report to us without hesitation. You have the same rights as any man.

• Older people appear to be more likely to report corruption to TI-Z. This should not deter the youths. Corruption affects everyone’s life and compromises the future of our youths.

• Most of the complaints received came from Lusaka, Southern province and the Copperbelt.

• Most of the cases we received came through our partners on the ground (Transparency Action Groups, TAGs) and through the online platform (this webpage you are reading!). However, we also receive your cases through other channels: you can write to us, call us, or visit our office.