Latest News
AGI countries make headway in battle against corruption
Wednesday, Oct 27, 2010 in Africa Governance Initiative
Rwanda, Liberia and Sierra Leone are making strong progress in their fight against corruption according to Transparency International’s (TI) 2010 Corruption Perceptions Index, published yesterday.
President Kagame’s anti-corruption campaign has continued to pay dividends for the country: Rwanda made the biggest improvement of any country in the world over the last year, jumping 23 places to 66th out of 178 to one place above Italy. The Rwandan government has been praised for its zero-tolerance approach to corruption, which has led to the establishment of a number of strong internal oversight bodies within the Rwandan public sector.
Liberia has also made impressive strides, moving up to 87th place in the rankings. The country has climbed 51 places in the last two years, the second largest improvement by any country in the world. Over that period President Johnson Sirleaf’s government has made major reforms in financial management and budget transparency, created the Liberian Anti-Corruption Commission and also brought the resource-rich country into compliance with the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative.
Led by President Koroma, Sierra Leone has also seen a marked improvement in the last two years, jumping 24 places from 158th to 134th in the rankings. In his first year of power President Koroma introduced one of Africa’s toughest anti-corruption laws forcing all public servants to declare their assets, and established an independent Anti-Corruption Commission to prosecute violators.
The Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index measures the perceived levels of public sector corruption in 178 countries around the world. “With the livelihoods of so many at stake, governments’ commitments to anti-corruption, transparency and accountability must speak through their actions. Good governance is an essential part of the solution to the global policy challenges governments face today,” said Huguette Labelle, Chair of Transparency International (TI), in a press release yesterday.
