South Sudan has been ranked as the most corrupt country in East Africa followed by Burundi. Kenya and Uganda tie in the third position, according to the latest Corruption Perception Index 2019 report published by Transparency International.

In the report released last week, Rwanda has rated the least corrupt country in the region and the only EAC state to score above the global average rate of 43 out of 100 points after garnering 53 points.

Tanzania with 37 points was ranked the second least corrupt country in East Africa. Kenya and Uganda scored 28 points, Burundi 19 and South Sudan only 12 points.

The CPI report measured the perceived levels of corruption in the public sector, drawing on 13 expert assessments and surveys of business executives.

In sub-Saharan Africa, Seychelles and Botswana are leading with 66 and 61 points respectively. Ethiopia scored 37, Zambia 34, Nigeria 26, Zimbabwe 24 and the Democratic Republic of Congo 18 points.

According to the report, countries that perform well on the CPI have strong enforcement of campaign finance regulations and a broader range of political consultation. In countries where campaign finance regulations are comprehensive and systematically enforced, they have an average score of 70, whereas countries where these regulations either don’t exist or are poorly enforced they score an average 34 points.