The anti-corruption civil society organization “Transparency International” has recently released a report on the corruption perception index of the year 2017.
Transparency International: “Burundi is ranked 157th out of 180 countries, with an index of 22 out of 100”
This index ranked 180 countries and territories according to their perceived levels of public sector corruption. It uses a scale from 0 to 100, where 0 is highly corrupted and 100 is less corrupted.
“Burundi is ranked 157th out of 180 countries, with a score of 22 out of 100,” reads the report.
Gabriel Rufyiri, chairman of OLUCOME, a local corruption watchdog, says
he does not understand why Burundi has not made any improvement in the fight against corruption “given all the efforts made by the international community through the strategic framework of growth to fight against poverty and corruption and the national strategy of good governance”.
OLUCOME reminds that corruption goes together with enforced disappearances, assassinations and other serious human rights violations. “For example, in the past six years, at least 36 journalists have been murdered in our country,” he says.
Rufyiri says corruption is a scourge that undermines all the initiatives to boost the development of the country.
Jean Bosco Ntahimpera, Assistant to and spokesperson for the Minister of Good Governance, rejects this report and regrets the fact that those who made it did not consult Burundi government. “Where did they find the data to confirm such statements?” he wonders.
According to him, this organization should have been in contact with the institutions in charge of the fight against corruption in Burundi.
Ntahimpera adds that Burundi has currently made a significant advance in the fight against corruption. “Cases of corruption that are noticed are directly dealt with by justice,” he says.
Burundi is the first country with a high corruption rate in the East African region according to the Corruption Perceptions Index 2017.
In 2016, Transparency International classified Burundi at 159th place among 178 classified countries with an index of 20 out of 100.
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