<p>This study examined the opportunities and constraints surrounding the deployment of information technology (IT) in anti-corruption efforts in Zimbabwe. Employing an integrative literature review, the research drew on peer-reviewed articles, institutional reports and case studies published between 2014 and 2024. The analysis revealed a complex landscape where IT initiatives confronted significant barriers including limited digital infrastructure, pervasive digital illiteracy, underdeveloped legal frameworks and exposure to cyber threats. These challenges were exacerbated by political inertia, institutional resistance and the deliberate subversion of IT systems by corrupt actors. Despite these constraints, the study identified considerable opportunities for IT to disrupt corrupt practices by leveraging mobile platforms for citizen reporting, adopting e-governance to reduce discretionary power, harnessing data analytics for anomaly detection and employing blockchain for transactional transparency. The findings indicated that realising these opportunities necessitated robust multistakeholder collaboration among government, civil society, and the private sector. Consequently, the transformative potential of digital strategies was critically undermined by a deficit of political will, and therefore recommends that future interventions must prioritise comprehensive institutional and legal reforms alongside technological investments. The study concludes that realising the potential of digital anti-corruption strategies in Zimbabwe is contingent upon overcoming systemic infrastructural and political barriers through robust multistakeholder collaboration and sustained political will.</p>

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Digital strategies against corruption: opportunities and challenges in Zimbabwe

  • Theo Tsokota,
  • Beauty Masevo,
  • Rosemary Guvhu,
  • Chipo Mutongi

摘要

This study examined the opportunities and constraints surrounding the deployment of information technology (IT) in anti-corruption efforts in Zimbabwe. Employing an integrative literature review, the research drew on peer-reviewed articles, institutional reports and case studies published between 2014 and 2024. The analysis revealed a complex landscape where IT initiatives confronted significant barriers including limited digital infrastructure, pervasive digital illiteracy, underdeveloped legal frameworks and exposure to cyber threats. These challenges were exacerbated by political inertia, institutional resistance and the deliberate subversion of IT systems by corrupt actors. Despite these constraints, the study identified considerable opportunities for IT to disrupt corrupt practices by leveraging mobile platforms for citizen reporting, adopting e-governance to reduce discretionary power, harnessing data analytics for anomaly detection and employing blockchain for transactional transparency. The findings indicated that realising these opportunities necessitated robust multistakeholder collaboration among government, civil society, and the private sector. Consequently, the transformative potential of digital strategies was critically undermined by a deficit of political will, and therefore recommends that future interventions must prioritise comprehensive institutional and legal reforms alongside technological investments. The study concludes that realising the potential of digital anti-corruption strategies in Zimbabwe is contingent upon overcoming systemic infrastructural and political barriers through robust multistakeholder collaboration and sustained political will.