African nations maintain poor performance in corruption fight: Report

KIGALI, Rwanda

Somalia and South Sudan are ranked among the world’s most corrupt countries, where weak justice systems undermine accountability for public officials, global corruption watchdog Transparency International said in its latest report Tuesday.

Somalia and South Sudan, which are affected by protracted crises, mostly armed conflicts, scored 11 and 13, respectively, out of 100, with no sign of improvement, according to the Corruption Perception Index 2023.

Equatorial Guinea scored 17 and Libya 18 on the index.

Transparency International measures perceptions of public sector corruption in 180 countries, scoring on a scale of 0, or highly corrupt, to very clean with a score of 100.

It said most African countries showed stagnation, which indicated the region’s consistent poor performance, with an unchanged regional average score of 33.

About 90% of countries in sub-Saharan Africa scored below 50.

Transparency International urged governments in sub-Saharan Africa to give justice systems the independence, resources and transparency required to effectively punish corruption offences.

Samuel Kaninda, Africa regional advisor of Transparency International, noted that in the face of a resurgence of coups and conflicts in several countries on the continent, addressing the underlying governance deficits becomes an urgent imperative.

“Strengthening the judiciary and having functioning accountability mechanisms are key to ending the continued backsliding of the region in its fight against corruption,” he said.

The Seychelles was ranked the least corrupt in the sub-Saharan Africa region with a score of 71, followed by Cap Verde at 64, Botswana at 59 and Rwanda 53.

The watchdog cited the Ivory Coast as one of the countries that showed consistent improvement on the index in the last decade after President Alassane Ouattara’s administration successfully implemented several reforms to strengthen accountability mechanisms.

The 2023 Corruption Perceptions Index showed corruption is thriving across the world.

The global average is stuck at 43, while the vast majority of countries have made no progress or declined in the last decade.

“Corruption worsens social injustice and disproportionately affects the most vulnerable. In many countries, obstacles to justice for victims of corruption persist,” said CEO of Transparency International Daniel Eriksson.

“It is time to break the barriers and ensure people can access justice effectively. Everyone deserves fair and inclusive legal systems where victims’ voices are heard at every stage. Anything else is an affront to justice,” he said.