Corruption is still as rampant in East African countries as it
was five years ago, blamed on lack of political leadership to fight it.
According
to the Transparency International’s annual corruption perceptions
index, with the exception of South Sudan and Uganda, the regional states
have only marginally improved since 2013.
Tanzania is the most improved in its fight against corruption having scored three points higher in 2017 at 36 from 33 in 2013.
The TI scale runs from 0 to 100, where zero means very corrupt and 100 very clean.
Since
taking the helm in Tanzania in November 2015, President John Magufuli
embarked on an anti-corruption drive vowing to root out graft and
inefficiencies in government. As a result, public officials including
high-ranking ones have been fired or taken to court.
A
study conducted by Twaweza last year showed that about 90 per cent of
Tanzanians perceived corruption to have declined since Mr Magufuli
became president.
Kenya and Burundi have improved by only one point to score 28 and 22 respectively in the 2017 index.
Uganda scored 26 points as it did five years ago, while war-torn South Sudan sank even deeper in graft with a score of 12.
Political will
Only Rwanda seems to be winning in its war on corruption in the region.
According
to the ranking, Rwanda has maintained its least corrupt status in East
Africa and is ranked fourth in the continent with a score of 55.
The country was positioned 48 globally behind Botswana (34), Seychelles (36), and Cape Verde (48).
The
anti-corruption watchdog linked Rwanda’s progress to President Paul
Kagame’s strict enforcement of compliance with the country's leadership
code.
“The key ingredient that the top performing
African countries have in common is political leadership that is
consistently committed to anti-corruption. While the majority of
countries already have anti-corruption laws and institutions in place,
these leading countries go an extra step to ensure implementation,” TI
said on Thursday.
In ranking terms, Tanzania is the
second least corrupt country in East Africa after Rwanda followed by
Kenya, Uganda and Burundi in that order. The four countries are globally
ranked 103, 143, 151 and 157 respectively.
South Sudan and Somalia, ravaged by conflict, are the most corrupt globally.
Previous
reports have singled out police, judiciary and utility firms as among
government institutions perceived to be the most corrupt in East Africa.
Threats on journalists
Worrisome,
TI said, is the finding that countries with the worst corruption rates
also rank low in the protection of journalists and civil society groups.
“Smear
campaigns, harassment, lawsuits and bureaucratic red tape are all tools
used by certain governments in an effort to quiet those who drive
anti-corruption efforts,” said Patricia Moreira, TI managing director.
"Every week at least one journalist is killed in a country that is highly corrupt."
According
to data from the Committee to Protect Journalists, about 9 out of 10
reporters were killed in countries that scored 45 or less on the
corruption perceptions index.
“We’re calling on those
governments that hide behind restrictive laws to roll them back
immediately and allow for greater civic participation,” Ms Moreira
urged.
The 2017 index ranks 180 countries by their
perceived levels of public sector corruption with data drawn from
experts and businesspeople.
GLOBAL RANKING AND SCORES
1. New Zealand - 89
2. Denmark - 89
3. Finland - 85
4. Norway - 85
5. Switzerland - 85
...
48. Rwanda - 55
103. Tanzania - 36
107. Ethiopia - 35
143. Kenya - 28
151. Uganda - 26
157. Burundi - 22
161. DR Congo - 21
...
176. Yemen - 16
177. Afghanistan - 15
178. Syria - 14
179. South Sudan - 12
180. Somalia - 9
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