By Emma Kakololo
WINDHOEK
In spite of President Hifikepunye Pohamba’s affirmed pledge to fight corruption, as well as the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC)’s feisty efforts to curb official graft, the country’s corruption rating continues to worsen, according to Transparency International (TI), the global anti-graft watchdog.
The TI 2007 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) has ranked Namibia 57 out of the 180 countries surveyed. The country was ranked 55 last year together with Costa Rica, both sharing a score of 4.1.
But unlike Costa Rica whose rank has improved to 46 with a dropping score of 5.0, Namibia’s score is a disappointing 4.5.
A score of 5.0 is the number TI considers the borderline figure distinguishing countries that do and do not have a serious corruption problem, while a score below three indicates that corruption is perceived as rampant.
However, despite the second-rated score of 4.5 globally, compared to other African countries, Namibia would be among the three least corrupt countries on the continent.
Botswana and South Africa are the continent’s perennial high-flyers, taking up first and second place, respectively. Last year, Namibia was fourth after Tunisia.
The index, which was recently released at the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors in London, United Kingdom, measures the degree to which corruption is perceived to exist among a country’s public officials and politicians.
It is a composite index, drawing on 12 polls and surveys from nine independent institutions, which gathered the opinions of businesspeople and country analysts.
Only 180 of the world’s 193 countries are included in the survey, due to an absence of reliable data from the remaining countries.
According to this year’s survey, New Zealand, Denmark, Finland, Singapore and Sweden are perceived to be the world’s least corrupt countries, and Somalia and Myanmar are perceived to be the most corrupt, sharing a score of 1.4.
Some of the African countries whose ratings have worsened are Morocco, Lesotho, Algeria, Burkina Faso and Senegal, while Nigeria has been identified as the 32nd most corrupt, alongside Angola and Guinea-Bissau.