Ghana ranks 69 in Corruption Perception Index
Ghana has been ranked 69 out of 183 countries worldwide with a score of 3. 9 on the 2011 Corruption Perception Index (CPI) released on Thursday.
Ghana failed to meet the pass mark of five set by the international anti-corruption body, which means perceived corruption is still grave in the country.
The ranking placed Ghana at the 8th position in Africa while Botswana topped the log on the continent with 6. 1 score making it 32nd in the world. Cape Verde, Mauritius and Rwanda follow suit with ranks of 41, 46 and 49 with scores of 5. 5, 5. 1 and 5. 0, respectively. These were followed by Seychelles, Namibia, South Africa, which were ranked 50, 57 and 64 with scores of 4. 8, 4. 4 and 4. 1, respectively. Thus, only four countries scored 5 and above.
Elsewhere, New Zealand ranked first, followed by Denmark, Finland and Sweden with scores of 9. 5, 9. 4, 9. 4 and 9. 3 out of a clean score of 10, respectively.
TI said: “Due to various reasons such as new countries being added and some being dropped, comparison of each country’s yearly rank and scores are not encouraged. The message of the CPI is the same: scoring less than 5 means corruption is perceived to be a serious problem in a country. We should be looking at where a country ranks compared to other countries, especially regionally. ”
Many African countries dominated the bottom of the CPI with Somalia ranking lowest (182 with North Korea) with a score of 1. 0, Sudan ranking 177 with a score of 1. 6 and Equatorial Guinea ranking 172 with a score of 1. 9. Most of the countries at the bottom are conflict areas as well.
Corruption costs developing countries US $1. 3 trillion per year which is equivalent to the economies of Switzerland, South Africa and Belgium combined. This amount of money could lift the 1. 4 billion people living on less than $1. 25 a day above this threshold for at least six years.
The 2011 CPI expressed concern about the fact that corruption continues to plague too many countries around the world, denying access to justice, to economic opportunity and basic services to people all over the world. It greases the wheels of conflict, injustice and criminality. The report shows that some governments are failing to protect citizens from corruption, be it abuse of public resources, bribery or secretive decision-making.
Source Citifmonline Ghana
Category: News
