Transparency International, based in Berlin, released data regarding the ‘Corruption Perception Index (CPI)’ on February 11 February, 2025 for 180 countries. It ranks the countries on a scale of corruption from 100 (very clean) to 0 (highly corrupt). Denmark, Finland, Singapore, New Zealand, Luxembourg, Norway, Switzerland and Sweden, (all scoring above 80 over the last four years), are almost corruption-free countries while South Sudan (scoring along with Somalia (9) and Venezuela (10) are the most corrupt countries.
It should be noted here that countries that score below 50 points on CPI are considered as ‘more corrupt’. In this way, Nepal (with a score of 34 points) holds the 107th rank. Except for Bhutan (with a score of 72 points), all the neighboring countries of Nepal are below the score of 44 points (China with the score of 43 points). Pakistan (27 points), Bangladesh (23 points) and Afghanistan (17 points) are touching the bottom as far as transparency and accountability in governance (and functioning) of public institutions are concerned. The CPI global average remains the same at 43 for the twelfth year in a row raising more serious questions on both democratic and non-democratic countries regarding their ability of providing clean and transparent governance to their people.
As per the CPI ranking of the countries across the world, more than two-thirds of countries scored below 50 points which further means that not less than two-thirds of the total population of the world (8.072 billion) is suffering from the scourge of corruption owing to ‘wilful neglect’ of ‘good governance’ by their political entity (be it democratic regimes or non-democratic ones). This indicates serious corruption problems, as those who are running the government are not very keen to ‘overhaul’ the entire ‘administrative system’ to deliver the essential services to the people and address their grievances in a reasonable time period without exercising coercion, threat or undue influence.
Such a vast population in the majority of the countries are the helpless hostages of their own corruption-ridden governments. So, ‘more corrupt’ countries can’t hide behind their phony jingoistic jargon of ‘my country, my people’. Snollygosters must understand that the administration standing on twin pillars of nepotism and favoritism never deliver the ‘good governance’ to the common people – the ultimate beneficiaries. Corruption-ridden regimes cage the people to serve the vested interest of ‘a select few’ who assume to willy-nilly hold themselves as ‘sovereigns’ only to dispense with the people as cannon fodder. They forget to understand that it is not about nationality, nationalism and nationals; rather it is all about humanity, humanism and humans.
There are governments (except those whose country’s CPI score goes above 70 points) which are not above board as they do not work on making their ‘public institutions’ fully transparent and accountable to their people. Public services are still under the clutches of ‘red-tapism’ and ‘welfare related policies’ goes for a toss when ‘beneficiaries of public services’ are discriminated against, neglected or simply abandoned for someone else on ‘obvious’ grounds. People especially in non-democratic regimes or living in ‘sham democratic systems’ suffer the most as they neither have democratic and human rights nor do they have access to technology (digital devices) to voice their grievances and highlight their plight. However awkward it may look, it is true that many governments around the world have not gone clean in putting up their government services for their people on digital platforms (in online-mode) based on ‘inviolable eligibility’ of their citizens without letting government officials or politicians in between. It shows malice in their intent in doling out ‘welfare schemes’ and ‘essential services’ to the people of their country.
‘Corrupt regimes’ fear the use of ICT (Information and Computer Technology) to directly connect with the people and be available on ‘any interactive digital platform’ as opaque system of holding the information without any justification or answerability help them clutch the ‘power gear’ to ‘steer’ their longevity of regime by befuddling the people. So, digital divide at global or local level helps the ‘stained’ public institutions to indulge in corrupt practices without being noticed. Lack of digital literacy disables the people to find, evaluate, and use information from government offices. Corrupt regimes often resort to ‘misinformation and disinformation’ to mislead the people and other stakeholders. Digitally empowered citizens act as whistle-blowers and raise alarms both within and outside their country to expose the corrupt practices of their governments and leaders.
Digitally empowered citizens act as whistle-blowers and raise alarms both within and outside their country to expose the corrupt practices of their governments and leaders.
It enables individuals to participate in democratic processes, access public information, and engage in online discussions. Digital divide definitely fuels corruption as a section of society that lacks access to technology and digital literacy becomes all the more vulnerable to exploitation and manipulation by corrupt actors (bureaucrats, leaders, agents, party activists and middlemen). Besides, the corrupt actors by taking advantage of their digital empowerment can fleece people and misappropriate public money. They can easily fiddle with digital government records, and steal sensitive data by keeping the people (who are digitally compromised) in the dark.
According to the report published by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU – the United Nations specialized agency for ICTs), an estimated 32% of the world's population, or 2.6 billion people, remained offline, down from 2.8 billion (35% of the total population) in 2023. This slight increase in online population in 2024 is still very depressing as most of them live in rural areas around the world and they are the most neglected lot by their respective governments. The ruling regime needs to reach the door-steps of these 2.8 billion people because they are the vulnerable lots of the global society to empower them and free them from the clutches of corrupt practices. That requires goodwill in delivering governance. Just having the internet connectivity too does not ensure the access to essential services of health, education, employment, mobility, and so on. Guided campaigns for digital literacy to be initiated by the respective governments to know ‘what, why and how’ of those matters that matter the most for availing of the services without being trapped in the corrupt hands. The ITU says that connectivity continues to increase worldwide but it reveals the complexities of reaching communities in low-income countries. In high-income countries, 93 per cent of the population is estimated to be using the Internet in 2024.
This contrasts with low-income countries where only 27 per cent of the population is estimated to be online. Most of the low-income countries in Africa, South America, South Asia, West Asia, Eastern Europe, Central America, South East Asia are facing stark digital divide and are victims of corruption perpetrated by public institutions. This trend holds true for least developed countries (LDCs) and landlocked developing countries (LLDCs), where just 35% and 39% of their populations, respectively, have internet access.
Uneven progress in access to ICT and internet services and significant gaps in adequate digital literacy has lowered down the overall quality of life of the people trapped miserably in it only to become the victims of corruption in the hands of public institutions. ITU Secretary-General Doreen Bogdan-Martin admits, “Facts and Figures of ITU-2024 is a tale of two digital realities between high-income and low-income countries. Stark gaps in critical connectivity indicators are cutting off the most vulnerable people from online access to information, education and employment opportunities.” Let the governments around the world (especially those countries whose CPI-score fall below 70 points) float all the services and welfare schemes of the government on digital platforms to give a corruption-free governance to their people in a transparent manner.
(Binod Kumar Pathak is an editor (of academic books), educator and academician)
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