...Number 34 amongst the most corrupt
…Southern Africa the most corrupt region
Malawi has dropped a step down from 35 to 34 on international corrupt nations ranking released by the Transparency International.
This means Malawis corruption is worsening under the Tonse Administration and is expected to be worse in 2023 as Presidents Lazarus Chakweras administration has been keen to remove Anti Corruption Bureau Director Martha Chizuma to halt investigations into multi billion kwacha scandals rocking different government departments.
The Southern African region which was devastated by the COVID-19 pandemic which impacted on livelihoods, deepening inequalities and increasing corruption risks across Sub-Saharan Africa.
” The region remains the lowest performer on the CPI, with an average score of
32. Forty-four of the 49 countries assessed still score below 50, and significant declines in many countries outweigh the gains made in a few,” reads the latest index.
The index ranks 180 countries and territories by their perceived
levels of public-sector corruption according to experts and businesspeople. It relies on 13 independent data sources and uses a scale of zero to 100, where zero is highly corrupt and 100 is very clean.
Countries with strong institutions and well-functioning democracies often find themselves at the top of the Index.
Denmark heads the ranking, with a score of 90. Finland and New Zealand follow closely with a score of 87. Norway, Singapore, Sweden, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Germany, Ireland and Luxembourg complete the top 10 this year.
On the flip side, countries experiencing conflict or where basic personal and political freedoms are highly restricted tend to earn the lowest marks. This year, Somalia, Syria, and South Sudan are at the bottom of the index. Venezuela, Yemen, Libya, North Korea, Haiti, Equatorial Guinea and Burundi are also in the bottom 10.
The TI said Corruption can also enable a country’s elites to exert illegitimate influence, sow instability and undermine government institutions abroad as a way of securing favourable outcomes.
The transparency body notes that diverting public resources away
from the common good to benefit special interest groups can cause popular discontent.
“The resulting grievances are particularly likely to lead to conflict when they coincide with disparities in the distribution of political and economic power along ethnic or other group lines,” reads the report.
The TI warns that corruption, exclusion and outright discrimination increase
the risk of outbreaks of violence and make them harder to control once they erupt.
Since 2017, 130 countries have seen significant social protests. In
55 of these (42 per cent), at least one protest was driven by the
people’s discontent with the levels of corruption in government.
“Unsurprisingly, 80 per cent of the corruption related protests and
82 per cent of the documented violent responses against protesters occurred in countries with CPI scores below 50,” adds the report.
It further warns that corruption weakens the state’s capacity to protect its citizens. The misuse or theft of public funds can deprive institutions responsible for ensuring security of the resources they need.
“Corruption has made our world a more dangerous place. As governments have collectively failed to make progress against it, they fuel the current rise in violence and conflict – and endanger people everywhere. The only way out is for states to do the hard work, rooting out corruption at all levels to ensure governments work for all people, not just an elite few” says Delia Ferreira Rubio
Chair for the Transparency International.
