Zimbabwe among worst governed countries

via ‘Zimbabwe among worst governed countries’ – NewsDay Zimbabwe October 15, 2013

ZIMBABWE remains one of the worst-governed countries on the African continent, an annual survey by the Ibrahim Index of African Governance has revealed.

According to the index, Zimbabwe remained stuck at number 47 out of 52 African countries this year although the country registered an improvement in the human development category which includes issues to do with welfare, education and health.

In the report, Zimbabwe continued to share the bottom six score with countries beset by political instability such as Equatorial Guinea, Chad, Central African Republic and Somalia, while some of its neighbours were among the top 10 countries.

Part of the report released yesterday read: “Despite improvements since 2000, Zimbabwe’s governance score remains below the continental average for Africa as well as the regional average for Southern Africa.

“Zimbabwe scored 35,4 (out of 100) lower than the continental average of 51,6, but has improved by +1,5 since 2000. Its scores are lower than the regional average for Southern Africa (59,2). It ranks its highest in the category of human development (30th out of 52) and ranks its lowest in the category of sustainable economic opportunity (51 out of 52),” the report said. “The score was bad especially in the human rights category since 2000, but progression was registered in the human development category.”

The countries were ranked according to how they performed under four categories, namely safety and rule of law, participation and human rights, sustainable economic opportunity and human development.

“The top 10 performers over the years have remained relatively stable, with eight countries managing to remain in this grouping since 2000: Mauritius, Botswana, Cape Verde, South Africa, Seychelles, Namibia, Tunisia and Ghana. Meanwhile, the bottom ten (including Zimbabwe) have displayed more fluctuation in and out of the grouping and have constantly remained in the bottom ten in all years between 2000 and 2012,” the report said.

The report cited Mauritius as the best-run country on the continent while four post-conflict countries which include Angola, Burundi, Liberia and Sierra Leone were said to have managed to pull themselves out of the bottom 10.