UGANDA has slightly improved its corruption score, according to the just released corruption barometer of Transparency International, an international watchdog.

It climbed from 2.7 in 2006 to 2.8 on 10 in 2007 in perceived levels of corruption among public officials and politicians.
Its position worldwide dropped slightly, from 105 in 2006 to 111 in 2007. However, the number of countries surveyed went up, from 163 last year to 179 this year.

Tanzania scored the highest in the region. It is at position 94 and has a score of 3.2 on 10. Rwanda shares position 111 with Uganda. Other countries in the region, however, are far behind. Burundi is at position 131 with a score of 2.5, followed by Kenya, which takes position 150 with a score of 2.1.

Among the top 10 most corrupt countries in the world are the Democratic Republic of Congo, at position 168, Sudan and Chad at position 172, and Somalia, which is last at position 179.

Only two countries in Africa score above 50% on the corruption barometer. They are Botswana, with 5.4, and South Africa, with 5.1.

Multinational companies and financial institutions that use bribery and tolerate illicitly gained wealth are helping fuel corruption in the world’s poorest countries, Transparency International wrote in its report, released yesterday.
While poorer countries should tackle their own graft problems, richer states are also responsible, and often to blame.

“Bribe money often stems from multinationals based in the world’s richest countries. It can no longer be acceptable for these companies to regard bribery in export markets as a legitimate business strategy,” the report said.

The least corrupt countries in the world are Denmark, Finland and New Zealand, praised for fair judiciaries and transparent public finances, with 9.4. The UK is at position 12 with a score of 8.4, while the US is at position 20 with 7.2.

Global financial centres play a central role in allowing corrupt officials hide and invest funds, the watchdog said, citing the example of Nigeria and the Philippines, where officials looted millions of dollars.

“Criticism by rich countries of corruption in poor ones has little credibility while their financial institutions sit on wealth stolen from the world’s poorest people,” Akere Muna, the organisation’s vice-chairperson, told Reuters.

Forty percent of countries scoring below three, which indicates corruption is perceived as rampant, are classified by the World Bank as low income countries, Transparency International said.

War-stricken countries such as Afghanistan, Iraq and Sudan have also deeply suffered from rampant corruption.
Efforts to rebuild countries devastated by violence through large infrastructure projects make them particularly vulnerable.

“This is a very ripe area for corruption as everybody tries to get these lucrative contracts and are more inclined to try to put money under the table,” she said.
“Corruption manufactures poverty, it seeds violence and it destabilises countries dramatically.”

The report said significant progress had been made in some African countries including Namibia, Swaziland and 2010 World Cup host South Africa, thanks to genuine anti-corruption efforts and political reform.