Teixeira rails against global corruption index

Apr 20, 2023 News

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– says Caribbean countries should write their own stories, strengthen their democratic institutions

Kaieteur News – Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance, Gail Teixeira has stressed that anti-corruption measures should see the strengthening of democratic institutions even as she knocked Transparency International (TI) Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) as faulty.

The minister was at the time speaking during a session at the 9th Annual Conference of the Commonwealth Caribbean Association of Integrity Commissions and Anti-Corruption Bodies (CCAICACB) being hosted at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre, Liliendaal.

Minister Teixeira highlighted what she claimed as inaccuracies of the global index used to measure corruption in Caribbean countries, the Transparency International (TI) Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI). She pointed out that many articles in international media paint Caribbean countries as corrupt.

Rather, the minister identified empirical data as the only credible source recognised by Guyana and expressed the importance of Caribbean countries conducting more of their own research, and writing their own stories. She expanded on this point, noting that these indices give numerous amounts of power to a small number of persons in evaluating an entire country.

“How is it that the CPI of the TI points out that the southern part of the world is more corrupt than the others? Isn’t that rather coincidental? For me, this is a reflection of prejudices and biases against persons in the developing world. “In the Caribbean, we have to find a way to deal with the smallness and the uniqueness of some of our countries. We also need to strengthen our institutions, if we want to make a good forward movement to reduce corruption,” she added.

A key aspect of strengthening democratic institutions, Minister Teixeira said, is engaging directly with the people, ensuring that they are knowledgeable of the anti-corruption measures being taken, while also garnering their views on challenges faced. The 9th Annual Conference of the Commonwealth Caribbean Association of Integrity Commissions and Anti-Corruption Bodies (CCAICACB), is being hosted at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre, Liliendaal

The parliamentary affairs minister noted that following the identification of major sources of corruption, relevant legislative measures should be put in place to strengthen the country’s response. The forum, titled ‘Factors that impact Anti-Corruption efforts in the Region’, saw intense discussions on the role played by a country’s policies, laws, people, and institutions in advancing this charge. Further, the forum identified key measures on the anti-corruption agenda, such as deepening connections with communities and civil society and increasing the number of research activities or projects on understanding various anti-corruption initiatives in each country. The annual conference will continue for the rest of the week.

According to the results of the 2022 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), Guyana continues to rub shoulders with some of the most corrupt nations in the world. The index shows that Guyana gained a score of 40, one mark more than its standing in 2021. Nations which score in the range of 0 to 49 are perceived as more corrupt than those with a mark of 50 to 99. India, Maldives, North Macedonia, Suriname and Tunisia received the same marks as Guyana. Others in the 49 to 42 range include: China, Malaysia, Cuba, Jamaica, Ghana, Senegal, South Africa, Kuwait and Trinidad and Tobago. Out of 180 countries reviewed, Syria, South Sudan, Venezuela, Equatorial Guinea, Chad and Haiti are in the bottom pile with scores ranging from 12 to 20. Countries with strong institutions and well-functioning democracies often find themselves at the top of the Index. Denmark heads the ranking, with a score of 90. Finland and New Zealand follow closely with a score of 87. Norway, Singapore, Sweden, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Germany, Ireland and Luxembourg complete the top 10 this year.

In the past five years, only eight countries have significantly improved their scores, and 10 countries have dropped significantly, including high ranking countries such as Austria, Luxembourg and the United Kingdom. The rest (90 per cent of countries) have had stagnant corruption levels.

The CPI was created and used by Transparency International, a non-governmental organization established in 1993 with the aim of bringing together business, civil society, and government structures to combat corruption. The index was first used in 1995, and it covers a growing number of countries in annual surveys.

The CPI is based on surveys of domestic and international business executives, financial journalists, and risk analysts. Therefore, it reflects the perceptions of experts and business elites, not of the general public. It represents average scores from several polls and surveys for each respective country from the two years prior to its release and the year of release (e.g., CPI 2004 was based on sources from 2002, 2003, and 2004). The minimum number of surveys used for each country is three, while some countries are evaluated with the use of as many as 14 to 15 surveys. Furthermore, the CPI focuses on the public sector and evaluates the degree of corruption among public officials and politicians. Corruption is defined by the organization as an abuse of public position for private gain, which in practice usually means bribe taking. Because in corrupt countries the quality and independence of the judiciary and media are usually low, official statistics on corruption exposure and prosecution underestimate the level of corruption in more-corrupt countries. The CPI, being based on evaluations, is also considered a valuable alternative source of information about the degree of illegal practices among civil servants and politicians in a given country.

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• Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), Gail Teixeira, Liliendaal, Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance, Transparency International (TI)

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