Jeff Otieno
27 September 2007
Nairobi — Kenya ranks a poor 150th out of 180 countries in the latest global corruption report.
According to the document released yesterday by anti-corruption watchdog Transparency International, the country is only 0.7 points better than the most corrupt countries of Somalia and Myanmar with scores of 1.4 points.
Kenya shares a 2.1 score with other African countries - the Republic of Congo, Cote d'Ivoire, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Zimbabwe, where corruption is perceived as rampant.
Tanzania and Uganda rank higher than Kenya, occupying the 94th and 111th positions respectively.
Denmark and Finland, along with New Zealand, top the list as the least corrupt states in the world, all scoring a high of 9.4.
The war-torn Somalia and military-ruled Myanmar, currently experiencing civil unrest, are at the bottom of the list for rampant bribery and graft in the public sector, the report says.
The 2007 report lists countries on a scale of zero (highly corrupt) to 10 (highly clean) based on a composite index developed from surveys compiled by experts over the past two years.
The degree to which corruption is perceived to exist among public officials and politicians is also considered. The report defines corruption as the abuse of public office for private gain.
The best rated African country is Botswana, with a 5.4 score, followed by South Africa (5.1) and Cape Verde (4.9).
Others are Mauritius (4.7), Nambia and Seychelles (4.5), Tunisia (4.2), Ghana (3.7), Senegal (3.6), Morocco (3.5) and Gabon and Lesotho (3.3).
The three top countries are followed by Singapore (9.3), Sweden (9.3), Iceland (9.2), the Netherlands and Switzerland (9.0). Closely following the two most corrupt countries are war-torn Iraq (1.5) and Haiti, which was the worst country last year (1.6). Above them at 1.7 are Uzbekistan and Tonga.
Drain resources
The TI chair Huguette Labelle said despite some gains, corruption remained an enormous drain on resources needed for education, health and infrastructure.
Ms Labelle added: "With public institutions crippled or non- existent, mercenary individuals help themselves to public resources and corruption thrives."
The index revealed a strong correlation between poverty and corruption. Forty per cent of countries with a score below three, indicating that corruption is perceived as rampant, are classified by the World Bank as low income countries.
Despite, the problems bedevilling Africa, the report says, the continent is registering good results in the fight against graft, and cites Namibia, Seychelles and Swaziland as countries which scored significantly higher than a year ago.
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