Rwanda and the Corruption Debate: Data Shows Progress, but Citizens Still Report Bribery
By Daniel NIYONKURU
Category: News
Original Publication date: November 26, 2026
Rwanda achieved its highest-ever score in Transparency International’s 2025 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), scoring 58 out of 100 and ranking 41st among 182 countries and territories worldwide. Yet, while the international index points to progress, separate national survey findings show that bribery remains a concern for some citizens.
The latest figures present two important perspectives on corruption in Rwanda. The CPI measures perceptions of public-sector corruption among experts and businesspeople, while the Rwanda Bribery Index examines citizens’ reported encounters with bribery.
According to the 2025 Rwanda Bribery Index, 14.6 per cent of respondents reported encountering bribery directly or indirectly in the previous 12 months, down from 18.5 per cent in 2024 and 29.1 per cent in 2022.
The figures suggest a substantial decline in reported bribery encounters. However, accounts collected by Panorama.rw from residents in Ruhango, Bugesera and Musanze describe concerns about unofficial payments, public-service delivery and alleged sexual exploitation in employment.
Together, the data and residents’ accounts raise an important question: how can Rwanda sustain its progress in international governance indicators while ensuring that citizens can access services and employment opportunities fairly?
Rwanda’s climb in the corruption index
Rwanda’s performance in the Corruption Perceptions Index has fluctuated over the past decade, although its most recent results show sustained improvement.
Historical CPI data show that Rwanda scored 49 points in 2014, rising to 56 in 2018. The score subsequently declined to 51 in 2022 before recovering to 53 in 2023, 57 in 2024 and 58 in 2025.
| Year | CPI score out of 100 |
|---|---|
| 2014 | 49 |
| 2018 | 56 |
| 2022 | 51 |
| 2023 | 53 |
| 2024 | 57 |
| 2025 | 58 |
Source: Transparency International, Corruption Perceptions Index historical results and 2025 country data.
The figures reveal three important developments.
First, Rwanda’s score increased by seven points between 2022 and 2025, from 51 to 58. Second, the score rose by one point between 2024 and 2025. Third, the 2025 result represents Rwanda’s highest recorded score in the index.
The recovery followed the decline from 56 points in 2018 to 51 in 2022. The subsequent increases in 2023, 2024 and 2025 indicate four consecutive years of improvement when the 2022 starting point is included.
The country also improved its global ranking from 43rd in 2024 to 41st in 2025.
However, the score and ranking measure different things. The score reflects Rwanda’s position on the index’s 0–100 scale, while the ranking compares its result with those of other countries and territories. A country’s rank can change partly because other countries’ scores also change.
The CPI does not count every corruption incident, nor does it establish how many citizens have personally paid a bribe. It measures perceived public-sector corruption using assessments from independent external sources.
According to Transparency International, the 2025 index covers 182 countries and territories and draws on 13 external data sources globally. Individual country scores are calculated using the relevant available sources, with at least three sources required for a country to be included.
The original reporting also cited a World Economic Forum assessment score of 73 and a World Justice Project Rule of Law Index score of 60 for Rwanda, with other reported assessment scores ranging from 46 to 69. These component figures require confirmation against the underlying country-level dataset before being interpreted as independently verified source scores.
The distinction is important because the overall CPI score is a composite indicator, not a simple count of confirmed corruption cases.
Rwanda ranks among Africa’s better performers
In the 2025 CPI, Rwanda and Botswana jointly ranked third in Sub-Saharan Africa, with 58 points each.
Seychelles led the region with 68 points, followed by Cabo Verde with 62.
Within East Africa, Rwanda recorded the highest score among the countries compared in the original report.
| Country | CPI score, 2025 | Global rank |
|---|---|---|
| Rwanda | 58 | 41 |
| Tanzania | 40 | 84 |
| Kenya | 30 | 130 |
| Uganda | 25 | 148 |
| Democratic Republic of the Congo | 20 | 163 |
| Burundi | 17 | 167 |
Source: Transparency International, CPI 2025 country scores and rankings.
The differences are substantial. Rwanda scored 18 points above Tanzania, 28 above Kenya, 33 above Uganda, 38 above the Democratic Republic of the Congo and 41 above Burundi.
These comparisons show Rwanda’s relative standing within the region. They do not mean that the differences represent percentages of corrupt officials or the proportion of citizens who pay bribes.
The global picture also provides context. Transparency International reported a global CPI average of 42 in 2025, its lowest level in more than a decade. More than two-thirds of the countries assessed scored below 50.
Rwanda’s score of 58 was therefore 16 points above the global average.
Nevertheless, strong performance in an international index does not mean that every form of corruption has disappeared. Transparency International has emphasised the importance of accountability institutions, independent civil society, public participation and media freedom in sustaining progress against corruption.
Bribery encounters fell from 29.1% to 14.6%
While the CPI assesses perceived public-sector corruption, the Rwanda Bribery Index provides a different perspective by examining respondents’ experiences with bribery.
Transparency International Rwanda’s 2025 findings show that 14.6 per cent of respondents encountered bribery directly or indirectly in the preceding 12 months, compared with 18.5 per cent in 2024.
The longer-term comparison shows a larger change: the reported rate declined from 29.1 per cent in 2022 to 14.6 per cent in 2025.
This represents a reduction of 14.5 percentage points. Relative to the 2022 figure, the decline was approximately 49.8 per cent.
In practical terms, the reported proportion was nearly halved over the three-year period.
| Year | Reported bribery encounters |
|---|---|
| 2022 | 29.1% |
| 2023 | 22.0% |
| 2024 | 18.5% |
| 2025 | 14.6% |
Source: Transparency International Rwanda, Rwanda Bribery Index findings. The 2023 figure is also reported in the organisation’s annual report.
The trend shows a consistent decline across the four reported years. From 2022 to 2023, the rate fell by 7.1 percentage points. It declined by another 3.5 points between 2023 and 2024, followed by a 3.9-point reduction between 2024 and 2025.
The total decline from 2022 to 2025 was 14.5 percentage points.
These figures are encouraging, but their interpretation requires care. A decline in reported bribery encounters does not necessarily mean that every form of corruption has declined at the same rate. The indicator measures the experiences captured by the survey and does not cover every possible form of corruption.
The findings also differ from the CPI. The CPI measures perceived public-sector corruption using expert and business assessments, while the Rwanda Bribery Index examines bribery encounters reported by survey respondents.
The two indicators complement one another, but they should not be treated as interchangeable measures.
Which services remain vulnerable to bribery?
The 2025 Rwanda Bribery Index identified areas in which respondents reported continued exposure to bribery.
According to findings reported by The New Times following the release of the index, obtaining a construction permit was cited by 22.9 per cent of respondents in the relevant service comparison. Acquiring a driving licence followed at 16.6 per cent, while obtaining a land title certificate was cited at 13.6 per cent.
These figures suggest that certain administrative processes remain areas of concern.
However, the percentages should be interpreted according to the survey’s specific question and denominator. They should not automatically be read as the percentage of all Rwandans who paid bribes for those services.
The findings also point to the importance of examining how service delays, administrative procedures and opportunities for discretionary decisions may influence citizens’ experiences.
Further analysis of the full survey report would be needed to establish the precise relationship between these factors and reported bribery encounters.
Citizens describe the effects of corruption
To understand how corruption concerns are experienced beyond national indicators, ICK News interviewed residents in three districts.
Jean Bosco Hirwa, from Ruhango District, described a situation in which unofficial payments can influence the order in which people receive services.
According to Hirwa, when many people seek the same service, those who pay extra may be served first, while others are told to return another day.
His account illustrates a concern about fairness in service delivery: people may feel disadvantaged when they believe that paying an unofficial fee determines how quickly they receive a service.
However, his testimony represents an individual account and does not, on its own, establish the national prevalence of such practices.
Jacques Nsengimana, from Bugesera District, expressed concern about the wider consequences of corruption for the economy and Rwanda’s reputation.
He argued that even isolated incidents can weaken public trust and slow development.
His concern highlights an important dimension of corruption that is not captured by a single numerical indicator: the potential damage to confidence in institutions and the perceived fairness of public services.
In Musanze District, Chantal Ingabire raised concerns about alleged sexual exploitation in the employment process.
She described situations in which some employers allegedly demand sexual favours in exchange for employment.
Such allegations point to forms of abuse that cannot be adequately understood through statistics focused exclusively on financial bribery. Establishing their scale requires additional evidence, including documented complaints, investigations and responses from the relevant institutions.
The three accounts offer perspectives on different dimensions of the problem: access to public services, public trust and alleged exploitation in employment.
They do not establish how frequently each practice occurs nationwide. Their value lies in illustrating the experiences and concerns that should be examined alongside national data.
Officials call for accountability and stronger reporting
During the official release of the CPI findings on February 10, 2026, Rwanda’s Ombudsperson, Madeleine Nirere, acknowledged the country’s progress while stressing that the goal had not yet been reached.
She called on journalists to strengthen investigative reporting and urged authorities to allow the media to operate freely when exposing corruption.
Her message placed emphasis on the role of journalism in identifying wrongdoing, examining evidence and holding institutions accountable.
Apollinaire Mupiganyi, Executive Director of Transparency International Rwanda and a member of the organisation’s global board, also emphasised citizens’ role in the fight against corruption.
He encouraged people to report poor service and attempts to solicit bribes so that those responsible could be held accountable.
Mupiganyi also addressed sexual corruption, stressing that no woman should have to exchange her body for a job and encouraging victims to report such cases to the authorities.
These calls underline the importance of accessible reporting mechanisms and appropriate institutional responses.
However, assessing the effectiveness of those mechanisms requires further evidence, including the number of complaints received, the investigations conducted, cases resolved and actions taken against offenders whose wrongdoing has been established.
Without those figures, the available evidence cannot establish how often reported allegations result in formal action.
Democracy, civil liberties and quality of life
The original reporting also highlighted a relationship between democratic institutions, civil liberties and corruption.
It cited figures indicating that countries with strong democratic institutions average 71 points, compared with 32 points for countries without democracy. It also stated that countries with stronger civil freedoms tend to report lower levels of corruption.
These figures suggest a possible relationship between governance conditions and corruption indicators. However, the specific source and methodology behind the averages of 71 and 32 were not established in the original article and should be confirmed before those numbers are presented as verified findings.
Transparency International’s 2025 analysis independently emphasises the importance of accountability, independent oversight, public participation, civil society and media freedom in preventing corruption.
The broader findings also connect corruption with underfunded public services, weaker development outcomes and declining public trust.
In Rwanda, further research using comparable data on household welfare, health services, public-service delivery and citizens’ trust would help establish how corruption-related experiences relate to quality of life.
The available evidence supports examining these connections, but it does not establish the precise effects of corruption on every sector or household in Rwanda.
Progress with caution: What the data tells us
Rwanda’s 2025 CPI score of 58 out of 100 and global ranking of 41st reflect its strongest recorded performance in the index. The country also remains among the highest-scoring countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and leads the East African comparison presented in this report.
At the same time, the Rwanda Bribery Index records a decline in reported bribery encounters, from 29.1 per cent in 2022 to 14.6 per cent in 2025.
The two sets of figures offer complementary evidence. The CPI shows how Rwanda is assessed internationally in relation to public-sector corruption, while the bribery survey provides information about respondents’ reported experiences.
The decline in reported bribery encounters is significant, but the remaining 14.6 per cent demonstrates that the issue has not disappeared from the experiences captured by the survey.
The interviews conducted by ICK News add personal perspectives on unofficial payments, public trust and alleged sexual exploitation. They help illustrate the human concerns behind the figures, while also showing why individual accounts must be distinguished from verified national trends.
A fuller assessment of progress would require continued comparison of survey results, examination of corruption complaints and their outcomes, and further reporting on the delivery of public services.
For Rwanda, the challenge is not only to maintain strong international rankings but also to ensure that progress in governance indicators is accompanied by fair access to services, effective accountability and protection against exploitation.
The data points to improvement. The experiences described by residents show why continued scrutiny remains necessary.
Data sources and references
Transparency International — Corruption Perceptions Index 2025: Country scores, rankings, global findings and methodology.
https://www.transparency.org/en/cpi/2025Transparency International — CPI 2025 report: Full report and supporting materials.
https://www.transparency.org/en/publications/corruption-perceptions-index-2025Transparency International Rwanda — CPI 2025 country findings: Rwanda’s score of 58, global ranking of 41, regional position and recent score trend.
https://www.tirwanda.org/what-s-new/article/corruption-perceptions-index-2025-rwanda-reaches-record-score-and-best-everTransparency International Rwanda — Annual Report 2023: Historical bribery findings, including the reported decline from 29.1 per cent in 2022 to 22 per cent in 2023.
https://www.tirwanda.org/IMG/pdf/tirw_annual_report_2023.pdf