CORRUPTION SURVEY: ESWATINI RANKED 122 OUT OF 180

MANZINI – Eswatini is among the most corrupt countries in the world as it ranks 122 out of 180 States and territories, says a report by Transparency International.

The report was published on April 8, 2022, and is an assessment of 2021. Transparency International is a global movement which works in over 100 countries to end the injustice of corruption by promoting transparency, accountability and integrity. The organisation defines corruption as the abuse of entrusted power for private gain and it advocates ending it, while it also advocates for people with power to be held accountable. Transparency International reported that Eswatini had an increment in corruption as it moved from position 33/180. In computing the rate of corruption, the organisation stated that it used the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) which it reported was the most widely-used global corruption ranking in the world.

It was stated that the CPI is said to measure how corrupt each country’s public sector was perceived to be, according to experts and businesspeople. The organisation reported that each country’s score was a combination of at least three data sources drawn from 13 different corruption surveys and assessments.  It was reported that these data sources were collected by a variety of reputable institutions, including the World Bank and the World Economic Forum.

Manifestations

“The CPI is the leading measurement for public sector corruption worldwide. Because it combines many different manifestations of corruption into one globally comparable indicator, it provides a more comprehensive picture of the situation in a particular country than each source taken separately. The process for calculating the CPI is regularly reviewed to make sure it is as robust and coherent as possible. This was done most recently by the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre in 2017,” reads the report in part. The country was ranked number 32 in the list of African countries with the worst corruption. This was out of 52 countries. In achieving this ranking, Transparency International stated that it looked into issues of bribery, diversion of public funds and also officials who were using their public office for private gain without facing consequences. It was also said there was no ability of government to contain corruption in the public sector and there was excessive red tape in the public sector which increases opportunities for corruption.

Furthermore, the organisation looked into nepotistic appointments in the civil service, laws ensuring that public officials must disclose their finances and potential conflicts of interest were not adhered to while there was no legal protection for people who report cases of bribery and corruption. It also said it looked into State capture by narrow vested interests and the access to information on public.

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