Transparency International

The 2011 Corruption Perceptions Index: Demanding better government

Dec 6th, 2011 5:00 PM UTC
By Suzane Muhereza

Transparency International (TI) defines corruption as the abuse of entrusted power for private gain. This definition includes corrupt practices in both the public and private sectors. In an aim to quantify and compare perceived corruption levels across different countries, TI created the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) which ranks countries according to perceptions of corruption in the public sector.

TI has released the 16th annual index, which ranks 183 countries according to perceived levels of corruption. The 2011 CPI is an aggregate indicator that combines different sources of information about corruption and scores countries on a scale from 10 (very clean) to 0 (highly corrupt). The CPI is determined by expert assessments and opinion surveys which include questions about the bribery of public officials, kickbacks in public procurement, embezzlement of public funds and questions that probe the strength and effectiveness of public- sector anti-corruption efforts.

Public outcry at corruption, impunity and economic instability sent shock waves around the world in 2011. Protests in many countries quickly spread to unite people from all parts of society. Their backgrounds may be diverse, but their message is the same: more transparency and accountability is needed from our leaders. According to Huguette Labelle, chair of TI, “This year we have seen corruption on protesters’ banners be they rich or poor. Whether in a Europe hit by debt crisis or an Arab world starting a new political era, leaders must heed the demands for better government.”

No region or country in the world is immune to the damages of public-sector corruption and the vast majority of the 183 countries and territories assessed score below five on a scale of 0 to 10.

Key Findings

Overall, two-thirds of the 182 countries scored this year were given scores less than 5, which mean they are considered significantly corrupt. New Zealand, Denmark and Finland top the list with scores of 9.5 and 9.4 respectively, while North Korea and Somalia are tied at the bottom with a score of 1.0.

African states that performed comparatively well include Botswana with a score of 6.1, Cape Verde with 5.5 and Rwanda with 5.0. All three appear among the 50 “cleanest” countries. These three countries have consistently improved in the CPI rankings since 2008.

“Arab Spring” countries performed worse than in 2010 and all rank in the lower half of the index with scores below 4. Tunisia dropped from 4.3 to 3.8, Egypt from 3.1 to 2.9 and Libya from 2.2 to 2.0. South Africa has dropped consistently in the CPI rankings from a score of 4.9 in 2008 to 4.1 in 2011.

The rankings show that public sector governance that puts the interests of its citizens first is the most crucial aspect in countering perceptions of corruption. Governments must respond accordingly by increasing transparency in service delivery and resource allocation. For their part, citizens need to engage with their governments and continue demanding better performance from their leaders.

European Parliament pushes for extractives transparency

Sep 14th, 2011 4:40 PM UTC
By Joseph Powell

Political momentum increased yesterday for a new transparency law in Europe that would help citizens in poor, but resource-rich, countries. The European Parliament endorsed plans for an EU-wide transparency law to shed light on the payments oil, gas and mining companies make to the governments where they operate. This would empower citizens with the information they need to hold their leaders accountable for money received, and would help governments negotiate fairer deals with extractive industry companies. In both these ways efficiency of public finance would improve, and more resources could be allocated to vital development projects.

ONE is a strong supporter of this type of transparency, and is part of the Publish What You Pay coalition which includes over 600 civil society organisations from around the world. For example we worked with Ugandan activists earlier in the year to deliver the message that the UK can help them make sure their new-found oil wealth is not wasted. Over the last few days Publish What You Pay has been asking people on Twitter what they would do with greater control of their #oilmoney. Education, healthcare and environmental projects were listed as priorities.

Moves towards legally binding measure in the EU will help with this. Jean Claude Katende of Publish What You Pay in the Democratic Republic of Congo argues: “We want to see the European Union adopt rules which are as ambitious as possible. Payment information will help us hold our leaders to account, but other information on profits, sales, production levels and reserves would enable us to judge whether DRC is getting a fair deal for the exploitation of its mineral resources.”

Last July the US passed a law that will soon mean all oil, gas and mining companies listed in America will have to publish their payments at the level of individual projects on an annual basis. Europe will soon propose a similar law. We need both jurisdictions to move swiftly to implementing these laws so that activists in Africa get the revenue information they need as soon as possible.

The end goal of better accountability in this area of public finances is to ensure resources are invested well, including in health and education, so that poor countries’ reduce poverty and progress towards middle-income status.

Information is Power: Kenya leads the way on open data

Jul 12th, 2011 10:35 AM UTC
By Alan Hudson

Last Friday, Kenya’s President Mwai Kibaki launched the Kenya Open Data Initiative. Developed under the leadership of Dr. Bitange Ndemo, the permanent secretary of information and communications — with support from Google, the World Bank’s Mapping for Results team, Socrata, Nairobi’s iHub, Ushahidi and others — the Open Data Initiative makes available a large number of data-sets about population, poverty, education, energy, health and water and sanitation.

Screenshot of a water and sanitation map on the Kenya Open Data website

A user-friendly interface enables citizens to analyze the data, create maps and graphs, and –- perhaps most importantly -– to see how their county or constituency fares in comparison with others. So, for instance, a user can go here to find information about where health facilities are, what the level of health spending is in each county, what the relationship is between illness rates and health spending, and what the relationship is between health spending and poverty. By providing the users of services with this information, the open data initiative empowers those users –- who are also voters -– to demand accountability from service providers and politicians, asking “how come health services are so much worse here?” As Dr. Bitange Ndemo put it: “Information is power and we are aiming to empower citizens by enhancing their access to usable data that was not accessible easily to the public.”

The Government of Kenya has –- through the Kenya ICT Board — launched a competition to stimulate ideas about how to make use of the data made available, but already a number of exciting ideas are coming on stream through the Community Applications section of the Initiative. Ushahidi has mashed up the data with information on service delivery. Virtual Kenya has mapped the location of MPs who refuse to pay their taxes. And the iHub Community has developed an application which will track the use of Constituency Development Funds and enable citizens to report about whether funds have been used effectively, using an application called “Msema Kweli” (Tell the Truth).

Open data is a key step on the road to open, increasingly democratic, development. As Kenya’s experiment with open data proceeds, we at ONE will be watching enthusiastically, hoping to see the country’s draft Freedom of Information Bill become law, and encouraging other countries to follow Kenya’s lead, empowering people with the information they need to hold their governments to account.

For great reporting of the launch of the Kenya Open Data Initiative see here (White African’s blog) and here (Daily Nation). And see here for a video interview on the initiative with Dr. Bitange Ndemo.

Follow Alan on Twitter at @alanhudson1

Securing sustainable development outcomes through good governance and transparency

Oct 27th, 2010 10:27 AM UTC
By Dr Sipho Moyo

Dr. Sipho Moyo, ONE’s Africa director, wrote this blog post for Transparency International (TI) to help illustrate how public sector corruption makes an impact on development. To view the original post, go to TI’s blog.

At ONE we are enhancing our aid advocacy work by highlighting attention on issues of good governance and transparency as being key elements to achieving sustainable development outcomes, including better service delivery across sectors like health, education, and better management of natural resource revenues, as well as more efficient investment in infrastructure for growth – energy, water, roads etc.

Our take at ONE is that transparency is a cornerstone of good governance as it allows citizens everywhere to hold institutions and governments accountable for their policies and performance, and thus fosters trust and helps to minimize corruption. That is why we support the emerging global governance initiatives which seek to partner with donor agencies, civil society, and governments for better development outcomes – such as the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), the Construction Sector Transparency Initiative (CoST) and the Stolen Assets Recovery (StAR) initiative.

In further acknowledging transparency and governance as global concerns we at ONE are proud to have been part of the advocacy coalition behind the success of the critical Lugar-Cardin oil revenue transparency amendment tucked into the recent US Financial reform legislation. This requires extractive companies listed on the US stock exchange to disclose to the Securities and Exchange Commission all payments made to foreign governments of the countries in which they operate. This increased transparency will help to reverse the “resource curse”, which has become shorthand for the corruption, conflict and poverty that is too often associated with natural resource-rich countries. Shining light on the payments made by multinational companies will empower African civil society to hold their governments to account for revenue received – an important step in ensuring resources benefit all citizens, not just corrupt elites. We are now rolling this campaign out in the UK and Europe, which will force companies trading in those countries to be more transparent and thus have a direct, positive impact on economic growth.

The 2010 Ibrahim Index, Africa’s leading governance assessment, reveals a mixed picture about recent progress across the continent. While many Africans are healthier and have greater access to economic opportunities than five years ago, many are less physically secure and more politically disenfranchised. The index highlights both the areas of progress and the setbacks in governance, and points to the need to pay attention to the rights and safety of citizens if Africa must continue to make progress along a sustainable growth and poverty reduction path.

As we heighten emphasis on results we also believe that increased assistance should be given to core public sector institutions in developing countries for improving their capacity, efficiency, transparency, and accountability in key functions like budget formulation, implementation, oversight and procurement management. This will result in higher quality service delivery particularly as the role of parliaments, judiciary, audit agencies, civil society and media becomes more important.

Ultimately better governance helps fight poverty, improves living standards and raises development outcomes. With improved governance, infant and maternal mortality will decline significantly as resources allocated to health service delivery are fully deployed as intended. The same is true for improving education and boosting GDP. Furthermore, good governance has been found to significantly enhance aid effectiveness. Transparency lies at the heart of much of this, and will continue to be a core principle for ONE’s advocacy work across the world.

Fighting corruption in Kenya

Aug 22nd, 2008 2:58 PM UTC
By Chris Scott

News of a great development in Kenya ran on the BBC.com and in other media outlets earlier this week. On Wednesday, anti-corruption czar John Githongo returned to Kenya after four years of self-exile. During his tenure as Kenya’s secretary for ethics and governance, Githongo earned the reputation for being tough on corruption— in 2005, one of his investigations forced the resignation of several ministers over a scandal that involved state contracts worth more than $1 billion being secretly awarded to non-existent firms. After exposing the scam, Githongo fled to the UK because of threats to his life.

Githongo’s return is an important step forward for Kenya’s new coalition government, which was put in place after controversial elections set off two months of violence earlier this year. He is back for only two weeks, but his return (at the invitation of the new government) is hopefully a sign that Kenya’s new government is serious about tackling corruption and addressing some of the underlying issues that caused the election crisis. Speaking to the Kenya Human Rights Commission on Wednesday, Githongo submitted the controversial proposal of offering amnesty as a means of closing old corruption cases and moving Kenya forward.

Whistle-blowers like Githongo are vital to beating poverty in Africa and across the world. The fight against corruption and efforts to promote transparency and good governance help ensure that aid is spent well and channeled to the people who need it most. ONE is also proud to note that John Githongo currently sits on our Policy Advisory Board and serves as an important advisor on issues of accountability and governance.

Excerpt below, full piece here.

Addressing a public forum on fighting graft in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, Mr Githongo said economic crimes must be resolved quickly and transparently. “The temptation to subject economic crimes to prolonged processes and the deliberation of committees not only delays justice but makes ultimate accountability less likely,” he said. Mr Githongo noted that there was a myth that corruption does not really matter as long as the economy is growing. “If you have high economic growth [and] a high level of corruption… then corruption causes political contradictions that leads to the kind of difficulties we had in Kenya at the end of last year,” he said.

-Chris Scott

New Global Corruption Report

Jul 24th, 2008 3:00 PM UTC
By ONE Partners

Embezzlement and kick-backs, bid-rigging and extortion, manipulated water policies and corrupted enforcement of rules against water pollution plague the provision of drinking water, irrigation and hydropower all around the world. This is the key message of “the Global Corruption Report 2008: Corruption in the Water Sector.”

With more than thirty experts and practitioners exploring corruption issues in all areas of the water sector, the report is a first of its kind and its central insight is as clear as it is alarming: Corruption in the water sector is a root cause and consequences of a global water crisis that leaves more than one billion people without access to safe drinking water and poses a major impediment to inclusive human development and environmental sustainability. Fixing the global water crisis requires fixing corruption in the sector. A wide array of case studies from all world regions shows how rampant and devastating corruption is in the water sector:

• In India, for example, corruption is estimated to inflate the costs for water infrastructures by 25 to 45%. In global context such a corruption burden means that achieving the Millennium Development Goals in water will be almost US$50 billion more expensive.

• In Kenya, 66% of households in a survey report that they have experienced corruption in water service provision.

• In Mexico the largest 20% of farmers reap more than 70% of irrigation subsidies.

• In China, Indonesia and Zambia, fraud and manipulation have plagued resettlement programs in big dam projects.

But there is hope. Taking action against corruption in the water sector is possible.

The Report also presents a large number of innovative initiatives that have had a demonstrable effect on tackling corruption in the sector. More transparency and citizen participation, more collective action and stronger accountability mechanisms are identified as the basic ingredients for rolling back corruption in the water sector and for making water governance work for sustainable human development.

-Dr. Dieter Zinnbauer Chief Editor – Global Corruption Report Policy and Research Department TRANSPARENCY INTERNATIONAL