Political parties are most corrupt worldwide -TI

Accra, Dec. 9, GNA - Transparency International (TI) says a survey it conducted across the world showed that the public perceived political parties as the institution most affected by corruption.

However, indicators on Ghana put the Police as most corrupt followed by the Custom, Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS). The survey, released in Accra on Thursday to mark UN International Anti-Corruption Day, indicated that in 36 out of 62 countries, political parties were rated by the general public as the institution most affected by corruption.

On a scale from a corrupt-free one to an extremely corrupt score of five, political parties ranked worst worldwide, with a score of 4.0. It fared most poorly in Equador, followed by Argentina, India and Peru.

"At the same time, the public rated political or grand corruption as a very grave problem and reported that in most countries surveyed corruption affected political life more than business and private life."

The statement said the TI Global Corruption Barometer 2004 indicated that after political parties, the next most corrupt institutions worldwide were perceived to be Parliaments, followed equally by the Police and the Judiciary.

The statement said the report revealed that people around the world remained pessimistic with one in five believing that corruption would increase a lot in the coming three years.

In Ghana, the Police were rated 4.5, just above CEPS rated 4.3. Staff of the utilities providers had 3.8 rating with the Military being rated as the least corrupt at 2.4.

Political parties, tax revenue and the Judiciary were rated 3.7 each; the education system was 3.5; business/private sector, medical services and registry and permit services were 3.3 each. Parliament was rated 3.0, the media 2.8, NGOs and religious bodies 2.6.

The statement said on the first UN International Anti-Corruption Day, TI's national chapters would be applying pressure on governments and parliaments to ratify the UN Convention Against Corruption, which required 30 ratifications before coming into force and had 12 so far.

"The UN Convention will make it easier both to seize assets stolen by politicians and to return them to their rightful beneficiaries. It will also facilitate the extradition of corrupt leaders, who have sought asylum abroad."