Afghanistan makes it to the top list of the corruption index

Afghanistan, once again, is ranked as the most corrupt country by the Transparency International, receiving 8 out of 100 marks.

The other two countries that made it to the top list are North Korea and Somalia, each having the same marks as Afghanistan.

The extent of corruption in Afghanistan came on the surface in the recent scandal surrounding the country’s first private bank, Kabul Bank.

 Deutsche Welle reports that according to the Afghan NGO Integrity Watch Afghanistan, one in seven people pay bribes to authorities. The sums of the bribes can sometimes be as much as one third of the average monthly wage – which is around 35 US dollars. The organization named further traces of rampant corruption: a government-dependent justice system, rigged elections and arbitrary arrests.

Regretting the current ranking of Afghanistan, the regional director of the Transparency International’s Asia Pacific Department Srirak Plipat said Afghanistan is in a state of crisis.

“It shows that the country is in a crisis in terms of corruption. The state anti-corruption agencies are relatively weak and the growing amount of fraud is proof that the authorities cannot manage to maintain a functioning system.”