After the publication this Thursday, January 23, 2020 of the latest Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) from Transparency International (TI) for the year 2019, this question is more than legitimate, a question which, you guessed it, is purely rhetorical !

Transparency International, which is an NGO whose main mission is to fight against the corruption of governments and international governmental institutions, has published since 1995 the CPI, which is a ranking of 180 countries and territories according to their perceived levels of corruption in the public sector. The CPI uses a scale of zero (highly corrupt) to 100 (very low corruption), and is based on expert assessments, surveys of business leaders, polls, etc. As the name suggests, it is based on perception, hence the main criticism against it, calling it too subjective.

Never mind, the CPI is a real barometer, a kind of “weather forecast of the level of government corruption”, which has acquired real international recognition.

The 2019 CPI, like the previous ones, still ranks (!) Africa at the bottom of the race against corruption within the state. Overall, for the 180 countries assessed, more than two-thirds have a score below 50, with an average score of just 43. To cut to the chase, good performers are in the minority in the school of Integrity in Politics !

This year, the top three (3) are: New Zealand and Denmark (with 87 points each), followed very closely by Finland with 85 points. The United Kingdom is 12th with 77 points, while the USA and France share 21st place with 69 points.

While the world average, already low, is 43 points, that of Sub-Saharan Africa is 32! The three (3) best in the region are Seychelles (27th with 66 points), Botswana (34th with 61 points) and Cape Verde (41st with 58 points). We note with relief that these three States have scores well above the world average. But they are unfortunately an exception, alongside the scores of countries such as Guinea (29 points), Nigeria (26 points), DRC and Guinea-Bissau (18 points each). And the 180th out of 180 is Somalia, with just 9 points.

Transparency International's analysis reveals unsurprisingly, but with great interest, that corruption is more widespread in countries where money influences political power.

Beyond the criticisms, based or not, on the methodology for calculating the CPI, the observation is simple: Africa does not do well in this ranking, despite the declared desire to fight against corruption. a pillar of the continent's development.

Corruption of the political elite is a scourge that corrupts the very moral values of the people. We see more and more political commitments motivated solely by the search for rapid and certain enrichment, and social success is no longer always combined with virtue. This reversal of moral values is a real danger, on the one hand, for the poorest, who have no choice but to suffer injustice, and, on the other hand, for the most honest, who choose, more or less difficult, to see their rights flouted rather than to bend their morals. It is absolutely necessary to prevent the High Civil Servant from becoming an endangered species in Africa, otherwise we can definitively bury all hope of social peace and sustainable economic development.

The African Union Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption has been in force since 2006, but it is clear that the fight against corruption and the promotion of Political Integrity in Africa seem for the moment to be, at best, wishful thinking, at worst, simple campaign slogans…until proven otherwise!