Kenya has been ranked position 21 in Africa in terms of comparison to other countries in Sub Saharan Africa, in the latest corruption perception report by Transparency International.
The report, released on Tuesday, January 30, indicated that globally, Kenya ranks at position 126 out of 180 countries in the corruption index, a drop from 123 in 2022.
According to the report, on a scale of 1 to 100, Kenya’s perceived level of public sector corruption is at 31, where 0 means highly corrupt and 100 means very clean.
The Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) is the most widely used global corruption ranking in the world. It measures how corrupt each country’s public sector is perceived to be, according to experts and businesspeople.
It is important to note that Tanzania in East Africa was pointed out as one of the significant improvers. Tanzania improved by 10 scores since the 2015 recording a score of 40 and ranking at position 87 globally.
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Report Explains Corruption Performance in Kenya and African Countries
In Sab Saharan Africa, Seychelles was the top scorer at 71, followed by Cabo Verde which scored 64 and Botswana with a score of 9.
On the other hand, the report highlighted Equatorial Guinea, South Sudan and Somalia as the worst performers with scores of 17, 13 and 11 respectively, and no sign of improvement from previous reports.
According to the report, Africa’s troubles stem from decades of severe underfunding in public sectors, exacerbated by corruption and illicit financial flows siphoning resources away from basic public services.
Further, Transparency International stated that African countries were ineffective when it came to addressing social and economic issues, often at the expense of the vulnerable population.
“Corruption and justice delivery mechanisms disproportionately affects the poorest citizens and those who depend primarily on public services, such as people living with disabilities or women and children, hindering the realization of global and regional development goals,” the report reads.
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Specifically, cases of corruption and related challenges in justice systems ranging from reports of bribery to extortion and political interference in justice systems of countries like Nigeria which had a score of 2, were pointed out as examples of causes of social inequality.
Other examples include “the dismissal and imprisonment of magistrates accused of corruption in Burundi (20), and the way to the denial of justice for victims of human rights violations in the Democratic Republic of Congo (20).”
How to End Corruption
To address some of the concerns highlighted, the reports advised that the independence of the judiciary and functioning of internal accountability mechanisms, such as codes of conduct and processes to remove judges, should be at the forefront of policymaking in Africa.
“Despite adopting the African Union Convention on Prevention and Combatting Corruption (AUCPCC) two decades ago, impunity of public actors, a weakened civic space and the lack of public access to justice and information continue to be critical issues that threaten the rule of law in the region.
“Anti-corruption efforts are therefore necessary and pertinent at all levels and with multiple stakeholders within the justice network, from court-class lawyers and family systems to prosecutors and magistrates,” notes the report.
