Tomorrow, Transparency International will be releasing its 2021 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) along with a comprehensive look at corruption over the last decade indicating which countries have improved or regressed over this period. Anti-corruption advocates worldwide, civil society organizations and the academia will be eager to learn how their countries have been rated and ranked on the Index.
In 2012, Guyana’s CPI score was 28 out of 100. Eight years later, it moved to 41. This 13-percentage point increase occurred mainly during the last five years when its CPI moved from 29 in 2015 to 41 in 2020. The largest increase was in 2016 when the score moved from 29 to 34. This improved performance was due to the following: amendments to Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML-CFT) Act; conduct of numerous forensic audits of State institutions; the involvement of Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) in investigating and instituting charges against officials based the forensic audit reports issued; establishment of the now disbanded State Assets Recovery Agency (SARA); activation of the Public Procurement Commission after a decade of delay; activation of the Bid Protest Committee; and greater appreciation of the work of Transparency Institute Guyana Inc. Guyanese no doubt are eagerly awaiting tomorrow’s release of the 2021 CPI.