Uganda tops East Africa in corruption

Uganda tops in corruption among the five countries under the East African community (EAC), a report by Transparency International has revealed.

The Eat African Bribery Index 2012 launched Thursday afternoon in Kampala ranks Tanzania and Kenya in second and third positions respectively.

Burundi was ranked fourth as Rwanda continues to record the best record in fighting corruption. A total of 9,303 respondents, mainly urban based and aged between 30 to 49 years, were sampled across the five countries in the survey conducted between March and May this year.

Consequently, Uganda registered the highest bribery levels with a percentage value of 40.7%, while Tanzania had 39.1%, Kenya 29.5%. Burundi, the worst ranked country last year recorded a significantly lower index of 18.8% this year. With an aggregate index of 2.5%, Rwanda remained the least bribery-prone country in the region. In Uganda, police remains the top most corrupt institution followed by the judiciary, tax services and the land services sectors.

Also vulnerable are the registry and licensing services, city and local councils, the health and education sectors.

Discussing the findings, anti-corruption experts attributed the problem in Uganda mainly to inadequate political will to fight corruption coupled with low salaries for civil servants.