South Sudan has been ranked as the most corrupt country in the world by the 2021 Transparency International Perceptions Index.

The country was graded number 180, out of 180 countries studied in the report.

Last year, South Sudan stood second as the second most corrupt in the world.

The year before, South Sudan was the third.

The CPI ranks 180 countries and territories around the world by their perceived levels of public sector corruption.

The results are given on a scale of zero which means highly corrupt, to 100 which means very clean

This year, it says the global average remains unchanged for the tenth year in a row, at just 43 out of a possible 100 points.

Despite multiple commitments, 131 countries have made no significant progress against corruption in the last decade.

Two-thirds of countries scored below 50, indicating that they have serious corruption problems, while 27 countries are at their lowest score ever.

The 2020 index used expert assessments and survey to rank countries and territories by their perceived levels of public sector corruption.

Denmark and New Zealand received 88 points, while Syria, with 14 points, and Somalia and South Sudan with 12 points each.

The report often attributes the reasons to the weak democratic foundation and the manipulation of undemocratic and populist politicians who use it to their advantage.

The Berlin-based organization said the ranking revealed widespread corruption was weakening the coronavirus response across the world, especially in North Africa.

In South Sudan similar ranking in 2019 indicated impunity the leaders exercise in managing public resources.

CPI said leaders who are accused of corruption are not arrested, charged or prosecuted.

At the higher levels, the UN reported that millions of dollars have continued to be siphoned out of the country by the elites.

President Salva Kiir acknowledged that the country is not getting enough from the non-oil revenue following the decline in oil production and sales.

Some civil servants, including security officers, have admitted that they demand bribes from the public due to delayed salary payment and the economic meltdown.

The common forms of corruption in the security sector include freeing of suspects in exchange for money, conspiring with criminals and organized crime gangs in the trafficking of drugs, humans and weapons.

A report conducted by the Sentry in 2019 showed top government officials as profiteers in the South Sudan conflict.

According to the report, “kleptocratic” South Sudan leaders and foreign individuals and companies have accumulated billions of dollars.

It recommended to the international community to deny corrupt officials from accessing luxury goods and property abroad.

The Sentry also demanded going after entire networks, including international facilitators, and sounding the alarm on corrupt real estate acquisitions.

Some citizens blamed corruption on the way Kiir’s government handles corruption cases.

Several reports, including the latest – Oil or Nothing: Dealing with South Sudan’s Bleeding Finances – suggest that the administration misappropriated the country’s riches.

They say Kiir and his loyalists have amassed unexplained wealth, with the majority owning homes and businesses in the region.

In November last year, President Kiir’s press secretary Ateny Wek Ateny said government was unable to prosecute corrupt officials for fear of rebellion.

The statement came days after President Salva Kiir accused some of his former senior officials of siphoning off the country’s resources.

The unnamed officials, Kiir said, have opened personal bank accounts outside the country and have built skyscrapers and luxurious apartment complexes with money from the state coffers.

The reports stated that in Sub-Saharan Africa, armed conflict, violent transitions of power and increasing terrorist threats combined with poor enforcement of anti-corruption commitments rob citizens of their basic rights and services.

Transparency International urged governments to defend democracy and promote civic space to create the enabling conditions to hold governments accountable.

The organization concluded that each country should publish relevant data and guarantee access to information to ensure the public receives easy, accessible, timely and meaningful information.

According to the latest ranking, South Sudan is followed by Syria, Somalia, Venezuela, Yemen, North Korea, Afghanistan and Libya.

Ethiopia, Angola and Ivory Coast are listed among the significant improvers.

Transparency International ranked Denmark, Finland, New Zeeland and Norway as the least corrupt countries in the world.