The Role of Education in the Public Perception of Corruption in Sudan and Zimbabwe

Abstract

In this article, we investigated the role education plays in public detection, reaction and opposition to widespread political corruption in Sudan and Zimbabwe. To do this, the 2019 Afrobarometer survey data were used in examining the hypothesis that educational level has an impact on citizens’ perceptions of corruption in the two countries using a two-sample test for equality of proportions and bivariate statistics. We found that although educational level shapes corruption detection, reaction and opposition in Zimbabwe, it does not do so in Sudan. The research fills a gap in previous studies by providing an explanation for the ways in which differences in educational attributes shape perceptions of corruption in two sub-Saharan African countries with a history of widespread corruption. Based on the findings, we recommended that stakeholders in both countries prioritise improving the quality of political education and making such education more accessible to citizens, particularly in Sudan.