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Haiti the world's most corrupt
07/11/2006 10:18 - (SA)
Port-Au-Prince - Haiti ranked at the bottom of 163 countries in an annual corruption survey, scoring slightly worse than Iraq, Guinea and Myanmar, an international watchdog group said on Monday.
The impoverished Caribbean nation's showing in Transparency International's 2006 corruption perceptions index was even lower than in the previous year, when Haiti was third to last behind Bangladesh and Chad.
Berlin-based Transparency International's findings are based on business people's and analysts' perceptions of corruption. Some nations such as Afghanistan, North Korea and Somalia were not included in the survey for lack of data.
The report noted a strong link between poverty and graft. Three wealthy countries - Finland, Iceland and New Zealand - tied for the best score.
South Africa came in 51st.
In Haiti and other low-ranking countries, "corruption continues to be one of the biggest obstacles to effectively fight poverty," the group said.
Haitian authorities did not immediately return calls seeking comment.
Home to some eight million people, Haiti is the poorest country in the western hemisphere. Corruption flourished amid frequent political turmoil over the last 20 years that crippled the economy, scared off investors and destroyed vital state institutions.
President Rene Preval, who took power in May, has pledged to fight graft, tightening customs controls on importers and branding Haitians who don't pay taxes as "traitors".
The report called on Latin American and Caribbean countries near the bottom of the list to strengthen democratic institutions and boost accountability of public resources.
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