Most corrupt African countries – Transparency International (TI) just released the Global Corruption Barometer, which ranks countries according to perception of corruption levels. In this year’s report TI surveyed people in 54 African countries. Here is a list of the 10 most corrupt countries according to the report:
10.Uganda
President Museveni and his government have repeatedly promised to stamp out corruption, but major corruption scandals resurface in government departments and ministries, said the report. The prime minister Amama Mbabazi has also been accused of having been involved in corruption cases, including allegations related to the sale of land to the National Social Security Fund (NSSF), only to receive protection from the President Museveni, said the report.
Many rural schools in Uganda remain in a poor state and there are regular teachers’ strikes over low pay. The health system is ailing, with more doctors preferring to work in foreign countries where they can receive better salaries.
Yet the country loses up to $258.6m (£160.3m) a year due to corruption, according to 2007 the African Peer Review Mechanism report.
Cissy Kagaba, the executive director of the Anti-Corruption Coalition of Uganda told Kampala’s Observer newspaper that “even when there have been steps to fight corruption through the creation of institutions like IGG, DPP and the public accounts committee, all these have been made inefficient due to lack of political will”.
The report says if the Ugandan government is committed to fighting corruption, it must stop arrests and intimidation of anti-corruption activists and strengthen the protections afforded to investigators, prosecutors and witnesses.
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