Hiiraan Online
Thursday February 22, 2018
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PHOTO: AMIN ARTS
Mogadishu (HOL) - Somalia has the dubious distinction of being recognized as the world’s most corrupt country in 2018, a label Somali has retained for eleven consecutive Somalia scored below South Sudan, Syria, Afghanistan and Yemen.
The 25th annual Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index report ranks 180 countries on a level of 0 (most corrupt) and 100 (least corrupt) on their corruption level in the public sector. Somalia scored 9 points, the lowest of all sovereign nations and down from 10 points in 2016.
This year, New Zealand and Denmark rank highest with scores of 89 and 88 respectively. Syria, South Sudan and Somalia rank lowest with scores of 14, 12 and 9 respectively. The best performing region is Western Europe with an average score of 66. The worst performing regions are Sub-Saharan Africa (average score 32) and Eastern Europe and Central Asia (average score 34).
This year's analysis was done looked at the relationship between corruption and freedom of the press, association and expression, uses statistics collected by the Committee to Protect Journalists, Reporters without Borders, the Varieties of Democracy Project and the World Justice Project.
The report found that in the last six years, more than 9 out of 10 journalists were killed in countries that score 45 or less on the Corruption Perceptions Index. One in five of those journalists were killed covering a story about corruption.
Transparency International also looked at the link between corruption and shrinking space for civil societies.
“Smear campaigns, harassment, lawsuits and bureaucratic red tape are all tools used by certain governments in an effort to quiet those who drive anti-corruption efforts,” said Patricia Moreira, managing director of Transparency International. “We’re calling on those governments that hide behind restrictive laws to roll them back immediately and allow for greater civic participation.”