This year’s Corruption Perception Index is very damning. Transparency International says that the global perception is that governments are doing very little to tackle the vice, especially the Sub-Saharan region which was the worst performer. On a scale of 0-100 Sub-Sahara paints a bleak picture of 32/100, but the most worrying of all is that worldwide, many countries are showing little or no improvement to tackle corruption. In the East African region, the picture is not any better, and even though Rwanda scored the highest, it dropped three points to hit 53. South Sudan (12/100), DR Congo (18/100), Burundi (19/100) need our prayers. The same goes for Uganda and Kenya which scored a joint 28/100 and Tanzania (37/100) the only of the six to beat the African average. That is poor showing even though the three countries earned a few extra points. As for Rwanda, there is no reason to smile or shift blame for what should be considered a poor score. With all the efforts put in to fight corruption, we deserve better. The Ombudsman’s Office and other stakeholders have work to do to move the country from the “average” position even if it came out 51st out of 100 countries. We should not be consoled that we did better than our neighbours; it is not a competition but a domestic mission to clean up this country to the best of our ability. But then, we should also give credit where it is due to the tireless work done to rid the vice out of our midst. And as the TI survey found out, many citizens believe it is in their power to uproot corruption. Let’s get to work.
