Nature of violations Public health institutions operated below capacity, partly as a result of the under-funding of health through the national Budget, which was 12 per cent, in disregard of the 15 per cent Abuja commitment made by African countries.* Case history • People living with HIV/AIDS faced limitations in accessing support in the absence of guarantees on the availability, accessibility and quality of treatment, prevention, care and support. Some antiretroviral therapy sites charged them ‘administration’ or ‘card’ fees to access free drugs, undermining the intention to promote universal access, and preventing the poor from accessing treatment. 4.5.3 Violations in transparency, accountability and integrity Integrity refers to ‘honesty’ or ‘trustworthiness’ in the discharge of official duties. Transparency refers to unfettered access by the public to timely and reliable information about decisions and performance in the public sector. Accountability refers to the obligation on the part of public officials to report on the use of public resources and their answerability for failing to meet stated performance objectives.** Any conduct contrary to this definition is a violation. Policy Article 2.1 of ICESCR obliges states to take steps to achieve progressively the full realization of economic, social and cultural rights of their nationals. Nature of violations Transparency and accountability by public officers was compromised, destroying public trust in the integrity of leadership. Systems that offered checks and balances were destroyed. In 2009, Transparency International’s Global Corruption Report placed Zimbabwe at position 166 out of 180, the latter figure being indicative of the worst.*** Case history • In March, Brigadier-General Douglas Nyikayaramba, a ZANU(PF) supporter and political appointee, as head of a committee to administer the provision of farming inputs, accused nine MDC-T MPs of abusing inputs allocated to MPs for distribution in what was widely perceived as a false accusation to discredit their credibility. * Special summit for African Health Ministersin 2001, where a declaration was made commiting their governments to spending 15 per cent of their budgets on health. ** Elia Armstrong, Integrity, Transparency and Accountability in Public Administration: Recent Trends, Regional and International Developments and Emerging Issues (United Nations, 2005), <http://unpan1.un.org/intradoc/groups/ public/documents/un/unpan020955.pdf>. *** Transparency International, Global Corruption Report 2009, <http://www.transparency.org/publications/gcr/ gcr_2009>. 24 Zimbabwe Human Rights Report – 2009