Corruption rife in Africa - Transparency International

The corruption perception index 2015 by Transparency International has placed Somalia yet again as the most corrupt country in the world.

The index of perceived corruption ranks 168 countries annually on a scale of 0 which is very corrupt to 100 which is very clean.

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— Transparency Int'l (@anticorruption) January 27, 2016

The conflict ridden Somalia scored a mere 8 points largely due to a failure to uphold rule of law.

Other most corrupt countries in the latest ranking are Sudan (12), South Sudan (15), Angola (15) and Libya (16).

‘‘In many countries, including low-scorers Angola, Burundi and Uganda, we are seeing a failure to prosecute corrupt public officials on the one hand, and intimidation of citizens who speak out against corruption on the other,’‘ Chantal Uwimana, Director for Sub-Saharan Africa said.

The first African country on the scale perceived as the least corrupt is Botswana ranking at number 28 with 63 points. Second is Cape Verde with 55 points followed closely by Seychelles with the same points. Rwanda, a country among fastest growing economies in Sub-Saharan Africa comes in fourth place with 54 points.

African powerhouses Nigeria and South Africa performed dismally in the latest index. South Africa comes in position 10 in Africa with 44 points and ranks 61 worldwide. Meanwhile, Africa’s biggest economy Nigeria received 26 points and is in position 136 worldwide.

“Forty out of the region’s 46 countries show a serious corruption problem and there is no improvement for continent powerhouses Nigeria and South Africa. If corruption and impunity are to ‘be a thing of the past’ as the African Union stated, governments need to take bold steps to ensure rule of law is the reality for everyone,” Uwimana explained.

According to the anti-corruption body, Sub-Saharan Africa faced a myriad of challenges in 2015 from terrorism and Ebola further underpinning corruption in several states.

‘‘Prosecuting corruption will restore faith among people who no longer believe in the institutions that are supposed to protect them. Transparency and accountability must go hand in hand when tackling corruption – as these results show, this is still far from the norm in Africa,’‘ Uwimana added.