By Ferdinand Maniraguha
Rwanda Bribery Index (RBI) Survey has shown that last year at least 19.2% of Rwandans directly or indirectly demanded or offered bribe in an interaction with an institution.
It was published this Thursday 28th January 2021, by Transparency International Rwanda during a virtual launch.
According to the report, bribe prevalence increased due to Covid-19 related circumstances, mainly from institutions which are more involved in the containment of the covid-19.
While the likelihood of bribe stands at 3.8% at the national level, RBI shows that the private sector and the Traffic Police registered the highest likelihood to demand bribe to service seekers with 12.9% and 12.7% respectively.
The survey also indicates that the traffic police and private sector registered the highest prevalence of bribe with 12% and 7% respectively while the national prevalence stands at 2.50% in 2020 from 2% in 2019.
Though bribery seems to be increasing nationally, Rwanda retained its position globally as the least corrupt country according to Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) 2020. Rwanda ranks 49th globally with 54 % points up from 53% in 2019, It is on the fourth position in the Sub-Saharan Africa and the lead in the East-African region as the least corrupt country.
Transparency International Rwanda, Marie Immaculée Ingabire, said that the increase of bribery prevalence last year was due to the efforts govermnet spent in Covid-19 containment, leaving loopholes in activities aimed at eradicating corruption.
“This is due to the fact that the containment of Covid-19 pandemic highly drew government’s attention and a little bit minimized the anti-corruption efforts,” she said
She urged all stakeholders should to renew their commitment towards fighting corruption though the country is in another battle of fighting Coronavirus.
Globally, CPI indicates that Denmark and New Zealand top the index, with 88 points. Syria, Somalia and South Sudan come last, with 14, 12 and 12 points, respectively.
Sab-Saharan Africa is the lowest scoring region with the average of 32% while the global average score stands at 43% (2/3 countries score below 50%).
In Great Lakes region, Rwanda is followed by Tanzania (49th with 38%), Kenya (94th with 31%), Uganda (142nd with 27%), Burundi and DRC (165th with 19%).