Botswana drops in Corruption Perception Index yet again

Innocent Selatlhwa | Monday February 17, 2025 12:58

The same day Vice President and Finance minister, Ndaba Gaolathe delivered his maiden budget speech, Transparency International released the latest (2024) Corruption Perception Index (CPI) in which Botswana has dropped yet again. Botswana has scored 57/100 from last year’s 59/ 100. This places the country 43rd out of 180 countries, dropping from 39th in 2013. The CPI ranks 180 countries and territories worldwide by their perceived levels of public sector corruption. The results are given on a scale of 0 (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean).

Corruption Index in Botswana averaged 59.78 Points from 1998 until 2024, reaching an all time high of 65.00 Points in 2012 and a record low of 54.00 Points in 2007. For the seventh year in a row, Denmark heads the ranking, with a score of 90. Finland and Singapore take the second and third spots, with scores of 88 and 84, respectively. Scoring 83, New Zealand is out of the top three positions for the first time since 2012, but it remains in the top 10, together with Luxembourg (81), Norway (81), Switzerland (81), Sweden (80), the Netherlands (78), Australia (77), Iceland (77) and Ireland (77). Meanwhile, countries experiencing conflict or with highly restricted freedoms and weak democratic institutions, occupy the bottom of the index. South Sudan (8), Somalia (9) and Venezuela (10) take the last three spots. Syria (12), Equatorial Guinea (13), Eritrea (13), Libya (13), Yemen (13), Nicaragua (14), Sudan (15) and North Korea (15) complete the list of lowest scorers. In 2024, the Sub-Saharan African region once again registered the lowest average score on the CPI, at just 33/100, with 90% of the countries scoring below 50. Yet amid this very low annual performance, there were African countries that invested in anti-corruption and made remarkable progress. The region’s highest scorers include Seychelles (CPI score: 72), Cabo Verde (62), Botswana (57) and Rwanda (57). The lowest scorers declined further on this year’s CPI: Equatorial Guinea (13), Eritrea (13), Somalia (9) and South Sudan (8).

Delivering the budget speech, Gaolathe said he was worried that the culture of corruption, if left unchecked, is certain to derail and undermine all efforts to build an inclusive and deep economy. He said Botswana is regressing on many fronts, including health and education outcomes. “Corruption has become endemic with all its corrosive and cancerous manifestations, an impediment to the achievement of the lofty aspirations of our people,” he told Parliament. Gaolathe was quick to indicate that in recent years, there has been a surge in the misuse of public office for personal gains. “This is evident in our deteriorating scores on the Corruption Perceptions Index. The data shows that our ratings declined from a score of 65 in 2012 (30 out of 180 countries) to 61 in 2019 (34 out of 180 countries). The most recent figures show a further drop and a significant decline in rankings in the space of one year, from a score of 60 in 2022 (35 out of 180 countries) to 59 in 2023 (39 out of 180 countries),” he said. Gaolathe, who is also the Member of Parliament for Gaborone Bonnington South, emphasised that if they fail to combine forces against this culture of corruption, they are certain to fail as a nation in the delivery of essential services that improve the quality of lives for Batswana. “Our conviction is that a corruption-free culture will save us, not a billion, but billions of pulas every year.

This is why an array of efforts are already underway to review our current procurement model, enhance transparency, support free press, as well as revise and approve the Draft National Anti-Corruption Policy. “With these initiatives, we hope to protect whistle-blowers, strengthen institutions, and enhance integrity and accountability,” he added.