KIGALI - A report released yesterday by Transparency International – Kenya,  reveals that Rwanda is the least corrupt country in East Africa,.

It attributes the achievement to the government’s implementation of several measures aimed at tackling corruption within both public and private sectors. 

According to the East African Bribery Index (EABI), Rwanda’s corruption prevalence is at 6.6%; Tanzania comes second as least corrupt with 28.6%, followed by Kenya with 31.9%, Uganda with 33.0% and Burundi as the most corrupt in the region with 36.7%.

"On government’s commitment to fight corruption, Rwanda proves to be the most committed with 97.1%, followed by Uganda with 30.5%, Tanzania with 29.4%, Burundi with 22.2% and the least committed being Kenya with 22.1%,” a statement from Transparency Rwanda quotes the EABI.

Rwanda also tops the report’s projected level of corruption decrease in the next one year, after scoring 90.3%, followed by Burundi with 23.5%, Kenya with 22.9%, Tanzania with 21.1% whereas Uganda is with 18.9% projection.

The EABI states a number of reasons Rwanda has succeeded in fighting corruption among which, is the establishment of the Office of the Ombudsman in 2004 to monitor transparency and compliance to laws in all government sectors.

"The Ombudsman’s office regularly exposes cases of fraud, malpractice and corruption at the top, middle and bottom levels of the public sector. This is evident through the stern action taken against a number of senior government officials implicated in corruption,” the report reads.

The EABI survey was carried out in EAC member countries as a fulfilment of the region’s goal aimed at capturing corruption experienced by ordinary citizens when interacting with officials of public and private organizations.

It was initiated by Transparency International Kenya in 2002 and later implemented in Uganda and Tanzania in 2008, and was concluded in Rwanda and Burundi in February this year.

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