Malawi ranked 115th in new corruption index

Malawi has been ranked as 115th in Transparency International’s new Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) which places 180 nations based on domestic perceptions and expert assessments of public sector corruption.

In a 2008 Transparency International Report, Malawi has moved three steps upwards from last year’s position of 118.

The index ranges between 0 and 10, with scores below 5 indicating serious corruption problem. In this category, Malawi scored a single margin of 2.8 on the TI scale this year, the same as in 2007.

Economist Andrew Kumbatira of the Malawi Economic Justice Network (MEJN) said there was still need for government to strengthen its ways of combating corruption in the country.

\"Government needs to conclude outstanding corruption cases and can therefore move forward in facilitating the effective and efficient prevention and prosecution of corruption in the country,\" he said.

According to the TI\’s Index, countries worst hit by problems of backhand payments and bribery in 2008 remained Somalia, Myanmar and Iraq.

TI said stopping practices such as “cronyism” and “embezzlement” could save lives in poor countries.

Malawi, however, was doing better in combating corruption than other sub-Sahara African countries like Mozambique, Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria, Angola, Sudan, Somalia Zimbabwe and Democratic Republic of Congo, the TI said.