Rueben Lifuka has been involved in anti-corruption work for nearly 25 years. He is one of the pioneers of Transparency International Zambia where he first served as a consultant for the interim contact group which finally achieved chapter status in 2001. Rueben later served as Vice Chapter President of TI Zambia in 2005 and subsequently was elected as Chapter President in 2007. He served in this role until 2012. Later in 2017, he was again elected to serve as Chapter President until 2021. At the international level, Rueben was first elected to serve on the board of Transparency International in 2008 and he served two terms of office until 2014. In 2017, he was elected as Vice Chair of the Board and served with Dr. Delia Rubio Fereira for two terms, concluded his tenure in 2023.

Alongside his role on the Transparency International Board, Rueben was in 2014 appointed to serve as a member of the Council of the International Anti-Corruption Conference (IACC). He is currently the longest serving member of the Council. In 2017, he was appointed Vice Chair of the Council under Dr Huguette Labelle and in 2023, he was elected to serve as Chair of the IACC Council. Rueben also serves on the International Board of the Infrastructure Transparency Initiative (CoST), having previously served as the Chair of the CoST Multistakeholder Group for Zambia between 2007 and 2010. He has also previously served as one of the interim steering committee members for the Open Contracting Partnership and a member of the Board of a UK Charity- Build It International.

In Zambia and Africa, Rueben continues to play an active role in the promotion of good governance, transparency and accountability. He previously served as Chairperson of the National Governing Council for the African Peer Review Mechanism in Zambia. He also served on the Technical Committee appointed by late President Michael Sata to review the Zambian constitution. He has chaired and served on many boards of local and regional NGOs and he is a respected and renowned Civil Society leader.

Professionally, he runs an Environmental Management and Governance Consulting firm – Riverine Zambia Limited and provides professional consulting services in the areas of environmental planning, environmental impact assessments and auditing, political economy analysis and general management advisory services to local and international clients. Rueben is also a part time consultant with the Chandler Foundation, promoting the Open Government Partnership in Zambia and Africa in general.

Rueben holds Bachelor of Architecture (BArch) degree from the Copperbelt University in Zambia, a Master of Science (MSc) in Integrated Environmental Management from the University of Bath in the United Kingdom, and a Master of Development Policy and Practice from the Nelson Mandela School of Public Governance at the University of Cape Town in South Africa. He is also a PhD student at the Nelson Mandela School of Public Governance with research interest in Power, Politics and influence in the mining sector in Zambia. He also has research interests in corruption and the construction sector, climate change and land governance. Rueben is one of a few Africans who hold the distinction of being a Chartered Environmentalist with the Society of the Environment (UK).