Ken Ofori-Atta
THE LATEST Corruption Perception Index report released by Transparency International has noted that between 2020 and 2021, Ghana maintained its score of 43.
However, this is still below the average compared with countries which scored higher and were viewed as less corrupt and those which scored least and were tagged more corrupt.
“This CPI score indicates that, Ghana failed to make progress in the fight against corruption in the year 2021 as the score of 43 is the same as the country’s 2020 score,” said Ghana Integrity Initiative, the local chapter of Transparency International, in a statement.
Although Ghana’s score is classified as low, it is still above the sub-Saharan Africa average of 33.
Per the latest report, Seychelles 70, in the rank of 180 countries, tops the region followed by Cabo Verde, ranked 58 and Botswana which is ranked 55.
Equatorial Guinea, Somalia and South Sudan have the lowest scores in the region.
“The 2021 index reveals that, Botswana (55), Lesotho (38), Eswatini (32), Niger (31), Nigeria (24), Comoros (20) and South Sudan (11) are all at historic lows. In the last decade, 43 countries in the region have either declined or made no significant progress,” the statement added.
On the global level, Denmark (88), Finland (88) and New Zealand (88) top the chart as the least corrupt countries, while Somalia (13), Syria (13) and South Sudan (11) remain at the bottom of the corruption perception index.
The 2021 CPI focuses on Corruption, Democracy and Human Rights.
According to Transparency International, corruption enables both human rights abuses and democratic decline, and in turn, these factors lead to higher levels of corruption, setting off a vicious cycle.
“Human rights are not simply a nice-to-have in the fight against corruption. Authoritarian approaches destroy independent checks and balances and make anti-corruption efforts dependent on the whims of an elite. Ensuring people can speak freely and work collectively hold power to account is the only sustainable route to a corruption-free society,” the report said.
Ghana Integrity Initiative recommended that Ghana must enhance institutional checks on power, empower citizens to hold power to account, sanction the corrupt to serve as a deterrent and improve transparency and accountability in political party and campaign financing to ensure that it improves in the next corruption perception index.