Guyana does badly again in corruption index
TI cites link between graft, poverty globally
By Andre Haynes
Stabroek News
November 8, 2006
Guyana has recorded another poor rating for corruption according to the 2006 Transparency International (TI) Corruption Perceptions Index.
Guyana scored 2.5 out of 10, ranking with eight others at 121 of the 163 countries that were surveyed for the index. The grade places Guyana beside Swaziland, Rwanda, Nepal, Russia, the Phillipines, Honduras, Gambia and Benin. Among the countries in the Americas, Guyana, along with Honduras, has been ranked 26 of 30 countries.
The index score relates to the perceptions of the degree of corruption as seen by business people and country analysts and it ranges between highly clean at 10, and highly corrupt at a zero rating.
The Transparency Inter-national Corruption Percep-tions Index ranks countries in terms of the degree to which corruption is perceived to exist among public officials and politicians. It is a composite index, a poll of polls, drawing on corruption-related data from expert and business surveys carried out by a variety of independent and reputable institutions.
The index focuses on corruption in the public sector and defines corruption as the abuse of public office for private gain. The surveys used to compile the index ask questions that relate to the misuse of public power for private benefit, including bribery of public officials, kickbacks in public procurement, embezzlement of public funds. It also looks at the strength of anti-corruption policies. Surveys are carried out among business people and country analysts. The surveys used in the CPI utilise two types of samples, both non-resident and resident. It is important to note that residents' viewpoints correlate well with those of non-resident experts.
Guyana's was rated with a confidence range between 2.2 and 2.6, based on five surveys that were used. However, it is not stated which surveys were used to assess the country's performance.
Guyana was added to the list last year and scored 2.5 out of 10 at that time. It was ranked 117 of 159 countries then. Since then, five countries were dropped from the last index owing to the outdated data, while nine others were added.
TI however warns against comparisons of a country's rank with previous years, since year to year changes in score can result either from a changed perception of a country's performance or from a change in the index sample and methodology.
Corruption and poverty
The index was released on Monday and according to TI it reinforces the link between poverty and corruption with a concentration of impoverished nations at the bottom of the ranking. It said this shows that the machinery of corruption remains well-oiled despite improved legislation. "Corruption traps millions in poverty," TI Chair Huguette Labelle was quoted as saying. "Despite a decade of progress in establishing anti-corruption laws and regulations, today's results indicate that much remains to be done before we see meaningful improvements in the lives of the world's poorest citizens."
Almost three-quarters of the countries in the index scored below five, including all low-income countries and all but two African states, indicating that most countries in the world face serious perceived levels of domestic corruption. It was noted that there is a concentration of so-called "failed states" at the bottom of the ranking. Iraq has sunk to second-to-last place, with pre-war survey data no longer included in this year's index. At the same time, while the industrialised countries scored relatively high on the index, major corruption scandals in many of these countries were noted.
Seventy-one countries, scored below three, indicating that corruption is perceived as rampant. Haiti has the lowest score at 1.8; Guinea, Iraq and Myanmar share the penultimate slot, each with a score of 1.9. Finland, Iceland and New Zealand share the top score of 9.6.
Brazil, Cuba, Israel, Jordan, Laos, Seychelles, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia and the United States were named as the countries with a significant worsening in perceived levels of corruption. Meanwhile, Algeria, the Czech Republic, India, Japan, Latvia, Lebanon, Mauritius, Paraguay, Slovenia, Turkey, Turkmenistan and Uruguay experienced significant improvement in the perceived levels of corruption.
Barbados (24) is the highest rated Caricom country, followed by Dominica (53), Jamaica (61), Belize (66), Grenada (66), Trinidad and Tobago (79), Suriname (90), the Dominican Republic (99), and Haiti (163). It should be noted that Trinidad and Tobago is considered to be one of the countries with an increase in perceived corruption and this is reflected by its lower ranking than last year, when it was at 59.
In the Americas, Canada is ranked number one, followed by Chile, and the USA.
'No winners'
TI said that there were no winners in the Americas. Out of 30 countries in the Americas in this year's CPI, 25 countries scored below five, which TI said indicates serious perceived levels of domestic corruption. In fact, more than a third scored below three, which it said indicates a perception of rampant corruption. These include Argentina, Bolivia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Nicaragua, Paraguay and Venezuela, in addition to Guyana. It said clientelism and the abuse of discretionary power by leadership in these countries is prevalent, making public resources there subject to private interests.
However, substantially higher scores for countries with relatively strong democratic institutions, including Canada and the United States, as well as Chile, Costa Rica and Uruguay were singled out for commendation. At the same time, it added that recent scandals show that they too must continue to strengthen their institutions. It noted the strong feeling in the United States that corruption is on the rise in Congress, with special interests able to buy access and Congress doing little to police itself.
TI noted the correlation between corruption and poverty in the Americas. It said in countries like Haiti, Ecuador and Honduras, with the highest level of perceived corruption, the reality continues to be one of the biggest obstacles to effectively fighting poverty.
Added to that, it pointed out that the results also call attention to the need for greater efforts to strengthen democratic institutions and install functioning systems of control and mutual accountability that ensure public resources are used effectively. It stressed the importance of these institutions, calling them the main pillars in the prevention, detection and prosecution of corruption and, by extension, the fight against poverty and inequality. It added that countries in the region must support the implementation of global anti-corruption instruments such as the Organization of American States and United Nations anti-corruption conventions.