January 31, 2019
According to the 2018 Corruption Perception Index (CPI) report from Transparency International (TI), a global anti-corruption civil society organization, Sierra Leone had made progress in the fight against corruption.
The report released on Tuesday, 29th January, 2019, notes that the country has improved from 130 to 129 out of 180 countries surveyed, with a score of 30.
The CPI index, according to a press statement from the Anti-Corruption Commission, ranked countries by their perceived levels of public sector corruption, reported that “more than two-thirds of countries surveyed scored below 50 percent on this year’s CPI” and that “most countries are failing to make serious inroads against corruption.”
“Nonetheless, Sierra Leone moved from 130 in 2017 to 129 in the 2018 CPI, thereby leading more than 50 countries in the campaign against corruption; including, Guinea, Nigeria, Kenya, Lebanon and Russia,” the release says
The TI report also stated that “the continued failure of most countries to significantly control corruption is contributing to a crisis in democracy around the world.”
Meanwhile, the ACC release says for the same period under review, Sierra Leone also passed the Millennium Challenge Corporation’s Control of Corruption Indicator, with 71 percent, moving 22 percentage points upwards from last year’s score of 49 percent.
“In the Afro Barometer Report, Sierra Leone also made huge progress as only 43 percent of the respondents think corruption is in the increase, as against 70 percent last year; thereby making 27 percentage points upwards in this ranking,” the release notes.