ESAT News (January 28, 2016)
Ethiopia continues to be one of the countries in the world where corruption is still rife, according to Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index 2015.
The index covers perceptions of public sector corruption in 168 countries. Ethiopia ranked 103th, making the country one of the places where corruption is highly prevalent.
Denmark took the top spot for the 2nd year running, with North Korea and Somalia the worst performers, scoring just 8 points each, according to the index
“Top performers share key characteristics: high levels of press freedom; access to budget information so the public knows where money comes from and how it is spent; high levels of integrity among people in power; and judiciaries that don’t differentiate between rich and poor, and that are truly independent from other parts of government,” the report said.
In addition to conflict and war, poor governance, weak public institutions like police and the judiciary, and a lack of independence in the media characterize the lowest ranked countries, it said.
The Corruption Perceptions Index is based on expert opinions of public sector corruption. Countries’ scores can be helped by open government where the public can hold leaders to account, while a poor score is a sign of prevalent bribery, lack of punishment for corruption and public institutions that don’t respond to citizens’ needs.