Tomorrow, Transparency International will be releasing its 2023 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) based on surveys carried out in 180 countries. It will be of interest to learn how Guyana has been assessed and ranked from among these countries. In 2022, Guyana scored 40 out of 100, a one percentage point increase from 2021. Table I shows the CPI scores for the English-speaking Caribbean over the 7-year period from 2016 to 2022.
As can be noted, except for 2020, Guyana occupied the bottom place in these years, a position it held since 2005 when Guyana was first assessed. In 2012, Guyana’s CPI score was 28 out of 100. Eight years later, it moved to 41. This 13-point increase occurred mainly during the period 2016-2020 when its score increased from 29 to 41. The largest increase was in 2016 when Guyana scored a five-point increase, moving from 29 to 34. This enhanced performance was mainly due to several anti-corruption initiatives undertaken, including:
Holding of local government elections in 2016 and 2018 after a hiatus of 22 years.