KAMPALA-Transparency International Uganda (TIU) ,one of the Non Governmental Organizations with a mission of stopping corruption, promoting transparency and integrity at all levels has released the Corruption Perception Index for 2023.
Mr. Peter Wandera , Executive Director Transparency International Uganda and other officials launching the CPI for 2023 in Ntinda on Tuesday.
The study which ranked 180 countries, has indicated that most of these countries including Uganda have made little or no progress in tackling public sector corruption which has led to more than two thirds of the countries in the world scoring below 50.
Uganda in 2020 scored 27, 2021 scored 27, 2022 scored 26 and in 2023 has scored 26 out of 100. In 2023 , South Sudan scored 13 , DRC 20, Burundi 20, Kenya 31, Tanzania 40 and Rwanda 53.
“We have not indicated ranks because they distort , it doesn’t help you if you’re the first in the class with a score of less than 50.Corruption Perception index is based on 13 trusted data sources i.e. Global experts and business executives.” Remarked Peter Wandera Transparency International Uganda Executive Director while launching the CPI at Minister’s Village Hotel in Ntinda, Kampala on Tuesday.
He noted that the size of the country in the index doesn’t matter , but what matters is the experience of business men and experts when they come to a given country.
“A country like Denmark is not so big but scored very well (80) , a country like United States of America (USA) is far bigger than the other but scored 69. When you come to East Africa Rwanda is tiny but scoring better than all other countries.”
Mr. Peter Wandera addressing the press ahead of the CPI launch
Transparency International has emphasized that independent, transparent and well resourced judiciaries and law enforcement institutions are central in keeping corruption in check.
Scores
Denmark for the sixth consecutive year has topped the index with a score of 90 out of 100 followed by Finland with 87and New Zealand with 85. The best performance has been based on a well functioning justice system in these countries.
The poorly performing countries include: Somalia that scored 11, Venezuela 13, Syria 13 , South Sudan 13 and Yemen with 16.
Some countries especially low income and middle income, have significantly declined on their CPI scores , these include El Salvador with 31 , Honduras 23, Liberia 25, Myanmar 20, Nicaragua 17, Sri Lanka 34 , Venezuela 13 among others.
Other countries like Ireland , South Korea , Armenia, Vietnam, Maldives , Moldova , Angola and Uzbekistan have greatly improved on the CPI.
Recommendations
Lilian Zawedde , the Programmes Cordinator of Transparency International Uganda has recommended that in order to eliminate corruption, there is a need to shield the justice system from being interfered with in its operations.
“Secondly , introduce integrity and monitoring mechanisms to ensure that the special protection required by members of the justice system to perform their duties is not abused.”
She also expressed the need to improve people’s access to justice through protecting people’s right as a first step against impunity and corruption.
There is also a need to expand avenues for accountability in grand corruption cases , promoting cooperation with in justice system and make justice more transparent.
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