Uganda stagnates again in global corruption ranking

Uganda has failed to make any progress in the fight against corruption from the previous year, the Transparency International Global Corruption Index report of 2023 reveals.

According to the report, Uganda has maintained the same score of 26 percent, the same as it scored in 2022 which is still below the global average of 43 percent.

This puts Uganda among the 30 corrupt countries across the globe and fourth in East Africa, beating South Sudan with 13 percent, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo both with 20 percent.

The report indicated that Rwanda is performing well at 53 percent making it first in East Africa, followed by Tanzania at 40 percent and Kenya at 31 percent.

The worst-performing countries include Somalia with 11 percent, Venezuela, Syria, and South Sudan all with 13 percent, and Yemen at 16 percent.

The report links failure to fight corruption to weakness in the judicial system, political interference, and law enforcement agencies.

"We note that corruption will continue to thrive until justice systems can punish wrongdoing and keep governments in check,” Mr Peter Wandera, the Executive director of Transparency International Uganda, said on Tuesday during the launch of the report.

Mr Wandera said that irrespective of the good laws and many units created to fight corruption, Uganda still performed poorly. He encouraged the government to look into where these units like IGG, and State House Anti-corruption units among others are failing instead of creating more units which increases administration.

The report recommends that countries should strengthen the independence of the judicial systems, introduce integrity and monitoring mechanisms, improve access to justice, and make justice more transparent.

Other recommendations include promoting cooperation with the justice system and expanding avenues for accountability in grades.

Reacting to the report, Mr Chris Baryomunsi, the Minister for ICT and National Guidance said that the government is pursuing a policy of zero tolerance for corruption.

Mr Baryomunsi said that the government is doing its best to put in place the necessary policies and legislations and has put in place institutions to fight corruption.

However, he noted that the government cannot fight corruption alone but rather requires the participation of all its citizens.

“Sometimes you find Ugandans who are victims of corruption do not want to report these cases and the government does not have divine powers to see what is covered. Let each one of us play his or her role in the fight against corruption,” Mr Baryomunsi said.