Ghana is second worst decliner in Corruption Perception Index 2016
Ghana has been cited as a bad example in corruption in sub-Saharan Africa, as the country declines in the 2016 Corruption Perception Index (CPI).
The anti-corruption campaign group, Transparency International (TI) has ranked Ghana the second worst decliner in the 2016 Index.
TI observed that the dissatisfaction of Ghanaian citizens with the government’s corruption record was reflected in the December 7, 2016 general elections.
Some citizens attributed the National Democratic Congress‘s (NDC) loss in the elections mainly to the corrupt practices that government officials allegedly engaged in.
The report indicates, despite being a model for stability in the region, Ghana, together with other six African countries, has significantly declined.
The rampant corruption in Ghana led citizens to voice their frustrations through the election, resulting in an incumbent president losing for the first time in Ghana’s history, it said.
Ghana ranks 70 out of 176 countries in the world and 7th in Africa.
It also mentioned some other large African countries like South Africa, Nigeria, Tanzania and Kenya who have failed to improve their scores on the index.
South African President Jacob Zuma was in court and in the media for corruption scandals. This included his own appeal against findings in a report by the Public Prosecutor Thuli Madonsela, regarding undue public spending in his private homestead in Nkandie, the report said.
Kenya – despite the adoption of a few anti-corruption measures including passing a law on the right to information – has a long way to go, it further added.
Right at the bottom of the list is Somalia, whose parliamentary elections were marred by malpractice and corruption, and whose presidential elections were postponed three times last year and are yet to be held, it also said.
South Africa, the report says continues to stagnate this year, adding, Joseph Kabila’s Democratic Republic of Congo and Yahya Jammeh’s Gambia, which both declined, demonstrate how electoral democracy is tremendously challenged in African countries because of corruption.
Cape Verde and São Tomé and Príncipe are the most improved African countries in the Index.
The overall performance of countries in this year’s Index is poor. According to TI, over two-thirds of the 176 countries and territories in this year’s index fall below the midpoint of its scale of 0 (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean).
“The global average score is a paltry 43, indicating endemic corruption in a country’s public sector. Top-scoring countries are far outnumbered by countries where citizens face the tangible impact of corruption on a daily basis,” it added.
By Pamela Ofori- Boateng
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