Uganda Corruption Rating Improves

By Okello JabweliUGANDA has improved its ranking in Transparency International’s annual corruption perception index though it is still in the bottom 10.According to the latest rankings released by Transparency International on Wednesday, Uganda with 2.1 points out of a maximum of 10, tied with Moldova in position 93 out of 102 countries ranked. Standing as 9th from the bottom, Uganda’s latest rank is an improvement from last year’s third position from the bottom. In the rankings released in Berlin, Germany, Nigeria at 101 and Bangladesh at 102 retained their positions as the most corrupt countries in the world. Uganda fared better than Azerbeijan, Indonesia, Kenya (1.9), Angola (1.7), Madagascar and Paraguay in that order. Finland (9.7), Denmark (9.5), New Zealand (9.5), Iceland (9.4) Singapore (9.3) and Sweden (9.3) came top of the chart. Others in the cleaner bracket include Canada (9.0), Luxembourg (9.0), Netherlands (9.0) and the United Kingdom (8.7). The ethics and integrity state minister Miria Matembe declined to comment on the new ratings. She said she would need to study the report before ascertaining whether Uganda had fared better or worse.“However, if they say we now have 2.1 points, that represents an improvement because the last time we had only 1.9 points,” Matembe said. The list is compiled from a series of surveys rather than a hard and fast rundown of the world’s most corrupt countries. It does not include countries where there was insufficient information to make a reliable judgement. First launched in 1995, the CPI rankings reflect the perceptions of business people and country analysts.According to Transparency International chairman Peter Eigen, even with 102 countries, the rating is just the tip of the iceberg. “There is no sufficient data on other countries, many of which are likely to be very corrupt,” he said.Ends