Tanzania ranks second in EAC in latest graft survey
President Samia Suluhu Hassan (C) speaks during an extra-ordinary summit of the East African Community (EAC) in November 2023. Left is President William Ruto of Kenya, and right is President Evariste Ndayishimiye of Burundi. PHOTO | FILE
What you need to know:
- Tanzania has seen a slight improvement from 38 points in 2022 and is ranked position 87 out of the 180 countries and territories assessed.
Dar es Salaam. Tanzania is ranked the second least corrupt country in the East African Community (EAC) region after Rwanda, according to the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI).
The 2023 edition of the CPI released by Transparency International (TI) recently ranks Tanzania as the second least corrupt country in the region with a score of 40 behind Rwanda, which scored 53.
Tanzania has seen a slight improvement from 38 points in 2022 and is ranked position 87 out of the 180 countries and territories assessed.
Kenya occupies the third position in the region with a score of 31, followed by Uganda with a score of 26, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) both scored 20.
The report puts Somalia and South Sudan at the bottom of the region, where they scored 11 and 13 respectively.
However, Seychelles, Botswana, and Cape Verde continue to lead as shining examples of the least corrupt counties in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Seychelles tops the continent's list as the least corrupt country with a commanding score of 71, followed by Cape Verde at 64 and Botswana scored 59.
The report ranks 180 countries and territories based on their perceived levels of public sector corruption, on a scale from 100 (very clean) to 0 (highly corrupt) using data from 13 external sources, including the World Bank, World Economic Forum, think tanks and others.
In Sub-Saharan Africa, high incidences of corruption are also linked with political instability and widespread insecurity.
“Despite improvement in some countries, Sub-Saharan Africa maintains the lowest average at 33, with democracy and the rule of law under pressure," the report says.
The most corrupt countries as noted by Transparency International are Syria with a score of 13 followed by Yemen (16), Equatorial Guinea (17), and Libya with a score of 18.
Denmark continues to lead the ranking as cleanest for the sixth consecutive year, with a CPI score of 90. Finland and New Zealand closely follow with CPI scores of 87 and 85, respectively.
On the other end of the spectrum, Somalia, Venezuela, Syria, and South Sudan rank at the bottom of the CPI.
The report highlights that over two-thirds of countries scored below 50 out of 100, indicating serious corruption issues. The global average remains stagnant at 43 and many countries have not shown improvement or have even declined in the past decade.
Additionally, 23 countries reached their lowest scores to date in this year’s CPI.
“Corruption will continue to thrive until justice systems can punish wrongdoing and keep governments in check. When justice is bought or politically interfered with, it is the people who suffer. Leaders should fully invest in and guarantee the independence of institutions that uphold the law and tackle corruption. It is time to end impunity for corruption,” said the Chair of Transparency International, François Valérian.
