Economy

Kenya improves slightly on global graft ranking

kimeu

TI executive director Samuel Kimeu. FILE PHOTO | NMG

Kenya has slightly improved its international ranking on corruption perception even as it trails other countries in the region such as Tanzania and Rwanda.

The Corruption Perception Index released on Thursday by Transparency International (TI) puts Kenya at position 143 out 180 countries. This represents an improvement from position 145 in 2016.

The TI report shows Kenya scored 28 points in 2017 out of the possible 100. The score runs from zero, which is highly corrupt, to 100, which is very clean.

In compiling the index, the TI uses data from institutions such as the African Development Bank, World Bank and the business school IMD to compile the perceptions of the scale of public sector corruption.

In East Africa, Rwanda was the top performer with a score of 55 at position 48. Its score has, however, dropped from 54 in 2016. It was followed by Tanzania at position two with a score of 36 at position 103 globally followed by Kenya and Uganda which scored 26 points and was ranked 151. Burundi was at the bottom of the pack with a score of 22 points at position 157.

The highest scoring countries in sub-Saharan Africa were Botswana with a score of 61 followed by Seychelles (60), Cape Verde (55), Namibia (51), Mauritius (50) and Sao Tome (46). TI executive director Samuel Kimeu blamed Kenya’s continued dismal performance on failure to punish graft suspects.