Somalia, the world’s most corrupt nation owing to terrorism, armed conflict — study

Somalia sits at the bottom on the list of 180 countries of the 2022 Corruption Perceptions Index by Berlin-based corruption watchdog Transparency International, which blames terrorism and armed conflict in the east African country for creating world’s biggest breeding ground for corruption.

The never-ending conflict in Somalia remains the leading cause of the runaway corruption, as terrorism, suppression of press freedom, political, social and economic instability, and suppressed freedom of speech have created fertile grounds for the vice to thrive. According to the survey, “corruption undermines governments’ ability to protect people and erodes public trust, provoking more and harder to control security threats. On the other hand, conflict creates opportunities for corruption and subverts governments’ efforts to stop it.”

Corruption in the Horn of Africa country virtually runs throughout the regime, starting from its judicial system, to public services, administration, police, tax and customs administration, legislation, natural resources, public procurement, and the civil society, the scourge remains unabated.

But it is not just the case of Somalia because Africa as a whole has not been able to root out corruption. On the one hand, Botswana, Cape Verde, Cote d’Ivoire, Kenya, Niger, Mauritania, Sudan, South Sudan, and the DRC, have seen the most marked improvement in their corruption perception scores. But all the other countries in the continent have either stagnated or deteriorated in their ratings as Africa keeps struggling to kick out corruption. Seychelles, ranked 23rd in the world, one point ahead of the United States, remains the least corrupt country in the continent. At the bottom of the Index, Yemen and South Sudan join Somalia as the world’s worst performing countries in stamping out corruption.