Ghana
has remained on its 41% score for 2018 in the 2019 global Corruption
Perceptions Index (CPI).
The
CPI 2019 released worldwide yesterday by Transparency International (TI) scores
and ranks 180 countries and territories by their perceived levels of public
sector corruption.
Ghana
scored 41 out of a possible clean score of 100 in the CPI 2019, and ranked 80
out of 180 countries/territories included in this year’s index.
“This
year’s score of 41 shows that Ghana’s score remained the same compared to its
CPI 2018 score (41),” the report said.
However,
in the sub-Saharan African region, Ghana performed better than 37 other sub-Saharan
African countries, including Burkina Faso 40, Lesotho 40, Ethiopia 37, Gambia
37, Tanzania 37, and performed below nine others.
For
the sub-Saharan African region, Ghana ranked 10th in the report that
saw Seychelles ranking number one in sub-Saharan Africa, followed by Botswana,
Cape Verde, Rwanda, Mauritius, Namibia, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, South
Africa and Benin.
The
CPI 2019, according to the Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII), the Ghana Chapter
of TI, draws on 13 surveys and expert assessments to measure public sector
corruption giving each country a score from 0 (highly corrupt) to 100 (very
clean).
The
CPI 2019 focused on political integrity and highlights the relationship between
politics, money and corruption.
By
political integrity, TI means the quality of: (a) contesting and exercising
power (political/public office) consistently acting in the public interest, and
(b) providing equal, open and meaningful access to the affected stakeholders
before arriving at decisions, GII said in a statement signed by its Executive
Director, Linda Ofori-Kwafo.
“Frustration
with government corruption and lack of trust in institutions speak to a need
for greater political integrity,” said Delia Ferreira Rubio, Chair of
Transparency International.
Governments
must urgently address the corrupting role of big money in political party
financing and the undue influence it exerts on our political systems, the
report urged.
World Backsliding In Corruption Fight
More
than two-thirds of countries – along with many of the world’s most advanced
economies – are stagnating or showing signs of backsliding in their
anti-corruption efforts per the CPI 2019 released today by TI, the report
stated.
Global Highlights
In
this year’s index, Denmark and New Zealand topped with 87 points each.
Syria,
South Sudan and Somalia are at the bottom of the index, with 13, 12 and 9
points respectively.
The
highest scoring region is Western Europe and the European Union, with an
average score of 66, while the lowest scoring region is sub-Saharan Africa with
an average score of 32.
More
than two-thirds of countries scored below 50, with the global average score of
43. Since 2012, only 22 countries have significantly improved their scores,
including Estonia, Greece and Guyana. On the other hand, 21 countries have
significantly declined since 2012 including Australia, Canada and Nicaragua.
Within the framework of political integrity, TI discusses a few dimensions relevant for anti-corruption work, including political finance, lobbying, transparency of the policy-making process, citizen engagement, political pluralism, state capture, among others.
BY Melvin Tarlue