KAMPALA/UGANDA: Uganda’s corruption levels have dropped to a whole new low, according to the latest Corruption Perception Index report by Transparency International.
“The year’s CPI report once again puts Uganda’s Anti-Corruption Efforts on the spot. Having stagnated at the score of 27 for two years, the country has now dropped a point to a new score of 26/100 ranking 142/180 from 144/180 in the previous CPI 2021 report,” says a press release signed by Lilian Zawedde Senteza, the Program Coordinator at the Transparency International office in Uganda.
The release adds that this year’s theme “Corruption, Peace, and Security” - serves as a reminder that corruption and violent conflict feed on each other and threaten durable peace.
“It draws a nexus between how countries hugely involved in the conflict are also showing a major decline in the CPI score. These countries include the last 6 on the CPI MAP (Somalia, Syria, South Sudan, Venezuela, Yemen, and Libya),” the release adds.
According to the new report, more than 2/3 of the countries (122) scored below 50% with the global average remaining stagnant at 43% for the 11th consecutive year.
The Ugandan Inspector General of Government (IGG) Ms. Beti Olive Kamya, who is charged with the responsibility of ridding the country of corruption, lamented this month that the fight is overwhelming.
She revealed that 52 chief administrative officers (CAOs) across the country were interdicted over corruption last year.
She said: “Last year, we interdicted 52 CAOs. They take us to the side and they tell us that the money I gave to so and so but with no evidence so we interdict the CAO. So CAOs we know that you are just at the tail end of a long syndicate.”
During the just concluded celebrations to mark liberation day in Uganda, President Yoweri Museveni referred to corrupt civil servants as pigs who would be dealt with soon.
An empirical study—the first of its kind—initiated by the IGG in 2021 to establish the cost of corruption in Uganda, it was discovered that 23 percent of the annual government budget is lost to the vice. It also established that Uganda loses at least Shs9.144 trillion to corruption conduits present in both private and public institutions every year, the Inspectorate of Government established. Unpublished estimates put the loss at 20 trillion shillings.
Corruption levels remain at a standstill for the eleventh year straight
According to the release, the 2022 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) released today by Transparency International shows that most of the world continues to show less significant progress in fighting corruption: 95 percent of countries have made little to no progress since 2017 and global corruption levels remain at a standstill for the eleventh year straight.
The Global Peace Index shows the world continues to become a less peaceful place. There is a clear connection between this violence and corruption, with countries that score lowest in this index also scoring very low on the CPI.
Governments hampered by corruption lack the capacity to protect the people, while public discontent is more likely to turn into violence. This vicious cycle is impacting countries everywhere from South Sudan (13) to Brazil (38).
Global Highlights
The CPI ranks 180 countries and territories by their perceived levels of public sector corruption on a scale of zero (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean).
The CPI global average remains unchanged at 43 for the eleventh year in a row, and more than two-thirds of countries have a serious problem with corruption, scoring below 50.
Denmark (90) tops the index this year, with Finland and New Zealand following closely, both at 87. Strong democratic institutions and regard for human rights also make these countries some of the most peaceful in the world according to the Global Peace Index.
South Sudan (13), Syria (13), and Somalia (12), all of which are embroiled in protracted conflict, remain at the bottom of the CPI.
26 countries – among them Qatar (58), Guatemala (24), and the United Kingdom (73) – are all at historic lows this year.
Uganda now in 26th position had maintained a score of 27 for the past two years. However, this score has been dropping from 28 in 2019. In the East African Region, Uganda ranks 4th after Rwanda, Tanzania, and Kenya.
Since 2017, ten countries significantly declined their CPI scores. The significant decliners are Luxembourg (77), Canada (74), the United Kingdom (73), Austria (71), Malaysia (47), Mongolia (33), Pakistan (27), Honduras (23), Nicaragua (19) and Haiti (17).
Eight countries improved on the CPI during that same period: Ireland (77), South Korea (63), Armenia (46), Vietnam (42), the Maldives (40), Moldova (39), Angola (33), and Uzbekistan (31).
For each country’s individual score and changes over time, as well as analysis for each region, see the 2022 CPI page.
EDITOR: More analysis and interviews on this developing story will be published on this site, subsequently.
