Corruption Perceptions Index 2018: Uganda makes little progress at ending corruption, ranks 149 out of 180

Uganda made little process at ending corruption according to the 'Corruption Perception Index 2018' released by the Transparency International on Tuesday.

The East African country ranked 149th in 2018 compared to 151th in 2017, according to the index -- that is 21 positions outside the bottom 10 countries.

The index ranks 180 countries and territories by their perceived levels of public sector corruption based on 13 surveys and expert assessments.

By using a scale of 0 to 100 -- where 0 highly corrupt and 100 is very clean -- Uganda scored 25 out of 100 globally.

The available data reveals a slight improvement as Uganda continues to fail at making serious strides against corruption.

"Our research makes a clear link between having a healthy democracy and successfully fighting public sector corruption. Corruption is much more likely to flourish where democratic foundations are weak and, as we have seen in many countries, where undemocratic and populist politicians can use it to their advantage," Delia Ferreira Rubio, chairperson of Transparency International.

More than two-thirds of countries score below 50 on this year’s Corruption Perception Index (CPI), with an average score of just 43.

Rwanda scores above average with a CPI of 56/100 and a global rank of 48 -- making it the most transparent country in East Africa.

Denmark and New Zealand are the top countries with scores of 88 and 87, respectively. The bottom countries are Somalia, Syria and South Sudan with scores of 10, 13 and 13, respectively. 

The index reveals that political leaders who run on a populist platform are gaining power and undermining democracy.