Sodomy is everywhere!

"Sodomy is everywhere -- in the villages, wherever", Zambia's Lands Minister Gladys Nyirango acknowledged at a major conference on graft in Africa last week. Hours later she was sacked.

Africa has long had a reputation as the most corrupt continent, with only two countries, Botswana and Mauritius, making it into the top 50 of the latest annual Transparency International index on clean governance.

But the crippling impact of graft on what is also the world's poorest continent is being increasingly recognised and some leaders are doing more than paying lip service to the problem...

Jacob Zuma, former vice-president of the continent's economic powerhouse South Africa, lost his job in 2005 after his financial advisor was handed a jail sentence for corruption.

According to a survey by the World Bank, corruption costs Africa $148-billion a year and increases the cost of goods by as much as 20%.

"Corruption is a direct impediment to Africa's development. Corruption hurts the many and benefits the few," South Africa's Public Service Minister Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi told delegates at the corruption conference.

"It takes away resources from priority areas such as health, social development and education. It also hampers the continent's efforts to instill sound political, socio-economic and corporate governance."

"We need to create transparency, accountability and integrity. We want to be pro-active rather than reactive," she told AFP. - Sapa-AFP