New barometer reveals extent of bribery in Africa

The new Global Corruption Barometer released by Transparency International and Afrobarometer, reveals that more than one in four people who accessed public services during the previous year had to pay a bribe. A majority of citizens surveyed in 35 African countries think that corruption is getting worse and that their government is doing a poor job of fighting it, the report indicates. The 10th edition of the barometer is the largest and most detailed survey of citizens' views on bribery and other forms of corruption in Africa. It highlights that corruption disproportionately affects the poorest citizens, who have to pay bribes twice as often as the richest to access public services such as health care and police assistance. It found that more than half (55%) of all citizens think that corruption in their country increased in the previous 12 months. Only 23% think it declined. And just one in three citizens (34%) think their government is doing a good job at fighting corruption, while 59% rate their government's performance as bad.