President Museveni
I Even with its latest slogan ‘Kisanja Hakuna Mchezo’, Uganda has not moved any position in the world most corrupt countries, according to the latest report from International Transparency.
The report released on Wednesday ranks 180 countries and territories by their perceived levels of public sector corruption according to experts and businesspeople, uses a scale of 0 to 100, where 0 is highly corrupt and 100 is very clean. This year, the index found that more than two-thirds of countries score below 50, with an average score of 43. Unfortunately, compared to recent years, this poor performance is nothing new.
According to the report, Uganda maintained its 31st position as the most corrupt out of 180 countries in the world. The report says that in 2017, Uganda is in the position of 151 as the least corrupt scoring 26. In 2016, Uganda scored 25, but maintained the same position (151) least corrupt. In other terms, Uganda is also the third most corrupt country in East Africa with South Sudan (179) and Burundi (157) being the most corrupt in EAC respectively. Rwanda, Tanzania and Kenya ranked the best with the score of 48, 103 and 143 respectively.
The report observed that in countries where corruption has prevailed most, journalists and activists are at a high risk as governments ruin on them to silence the truth.
“This year’s Corruption Perceptions Index highlights that the majority of countries are making little or no progress in ending corruption, while further analysis shows journalists and activists in corrupt countries risking their lives every day in an effort to speak out,” the report says.
Further analysis of the results indicates that countries with the least protection for press and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) also tend to have the worst rates of corruption. Apparently, Every week at least one journalist is killed in a country that is highly corrupt.
“No activist or reporter should have to fear for their lives when speaking out against corruption. Given current crackdowns on both civil society and the media worldwide, we need to do more to protect those who speak up,” Patricia Moreira, Managing Director Transparency International said.
