Ghana unmoved on Corruption Perception Index 2022
Ghana continues to stagnate with a score of 43 on the Corruption Perception Index 2022, ranked at 72 among 180 countries, released by Transparency International (TI). In the 2021 Index, the country scored 43 and ranked at 73.
The Index released today January 31, 2023 shows that most of the world continues to fail to fight corruption: 95 per cent of countries have made little to no progress since 2017, it said.
Citing the Global Peace Index, the Index indicated that the world continues to become a less peaceful place.
“There is a clear connection between this violence and corruption, with countries that score lowest in this index also scoring very low on the CPI. Governments hampered by corruption lack the capacity to protect the people, while public discontent is more likely to turn into violence. This vicious cycle is impacting countries everywhere from South Sudan (13) to Brazil (38),” it said.
In a press release, TI said the CPI ranks 180 countries and territories by their perceived levels of public sector corruption on a scale of zero (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean).
“The global average remains unchanged at 43 for the eleventh year in a row, and more than two-thirds of countries have a serious problem with corruption, scoring below 50,” it added.
Denmark, with a score of 90 tops the index this year, with Finland and New Zealand following closely, both at 87. Strong democratic institutions and regard for human rights also make these countries some of the most peaceful in the world according to the Global Peace Index.
In sub-Sahara Africa the average score is 32 out of 100. TI says it is another year of stagnation on the Index for region. It notes that 44 of the 49 countries assessed still score below 50.
Seychelles continues to be on top in Africa with a score of 70, followed by Botswana and Cabo Verde, each with 60. Burundi (17), Equatorial Guinea (17), South Sudan (13) and Somalia (12) perform the lowest.
Three countries stuck in conflict, South Sudan (13), Syria (13) and Somalia (12), remain at the bottom of the Index.
On the Index, 26 countries, including the United Kingdom (73), Qatar (58) and Guatemala (24) – are all at historic lows this year.
Since 2017, ten countries significantly declined on their CPI scores. The significant decliners are: Luxembourg (77), Canada (74), the United Kingdom (73), Austria (71), Malaysia (47), Mongolia (33), Pakistan (27), Honduras (23), Nicaragua (19) and Haiti (17).
Eight countries improved on the CPI during that same period: Ireland (77), South Korea (63), Armenia (46), Vietnam (42), the Maldives (40), Moldova (39), Angola (33) and Uzbekistan (31).
By Emmanuel K Dogbevi