Uganda falls further down corruption ladder

SOURCE: THE DAILY MONITOR, 2 DECEMBER 2011

For the fifth straight year, Uganda has continued to score badly on corruption, according to the latest world ranking on perception of graft levels in countries around the globe.

Ranked among the most corrupt nations, Uganda is at position 143 of 183 surveyed countries in the 2011 corruption perception index released yesterday by global graft watchdog, Transparency International (TI).

The index, an aggregate indicator measuring perceived levels of public sector corruption, is drawn on assessments and opinion surveys with questions related to bribery of public officials, kickbacks in public procurement, embezzlement of public funds, and the effectiveness of public sector anti-corruption efforts.

Countries are scored on a scale of 0(highly corrupt), to 10 (very clean). Uganda scored 2.4, down from 2010’s 2.5. But government dismissed the ranking, saying it is devoid of “scientific substance” to offer accurate measure of corruption levels in the country.
Only Burundi posted a worse ranking than Uganda in the East African region, at position 172, while Rwanda, one of only two African countries in the top 50 of “very clean” countries, topped the region.

Mr Raphael Baku, the acting IGG, said he had “a problem” with the index because perception can often be deceptive. “They (reports) may give the impression that corruption has increased in the country just because of what is happening at the time of the surveys.”

But Prof. Edward Kakonge, the chairman of the Uganda Debt Network, said: “This ranking has been kind to Uganda. We are actually worse off.” “Your newspaper has been documenting a lot of corruption for instance this most recent thing with the national identity cards. There is no transparency.”

Recent graft scandals in the country include; the 2007 Chogm scandal, the botched LC1 bicycle deal and bribery claims in the oil sector.