Govt urged to restrategise in fight against corruption
The Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII) has urged the government to restrategise in the fight against corruption to make it deterrent for people to engage in the canker.
It noted that despite some of the measures put in place to fight corruption the results showed the country still had challenges in dealing with the menace.
“You can see it, you can feel it when we put all our efforts together we are looking for only one outcome, that is, corruption will be minimised as realists we will not say corruption will be totally eradicated,” the initiative stated.
Linda Ofori-Kwafo, the Executive Director of GII, who made the call, pointed out that if efforts from legislation, institution, resources, capacity building, National Anti-Corruption Plan and conducting findings on the canker are not yielding results then there should be the need to go back to the drawing board and restrategise.
Her comments come on the back of the Afrobarometer and the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) corruption reports released recently which stated the Presidency, Judiciary and the Legislature were thought of as very corrupt institutions after the Police which was number one.
The research found the Police’s score of 65 per cent placed it at the top of the chain while the Presidency followed in second position with 55 per cent which bordered on democratic governance, trust in institutions and corruption however, in recent surveys by the GSS and the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice(CHRAJ) and the Centre for Democratic Development-Ghana (CDD-Ghana), the Police was ranked as the most corrupt public institution.
According to the survey, more than GH¢17.4 million in bribes were paid in 2021 with police officers topping the list of officials who take bribes at 53.2 per cent. The survey was aimed to unearth corrupt institutions and provide data that will guide formulation of policies in arresting the menace.
Mrs Ofori-Kwafo explained that successive governments had come into power on the back of fighting corruption but failed to live up to the hopes, aspirations and expectations of the citizenry however, the current government had implemented some strategies including establishing the Office of the Special Prosecutor but the results were yet to be seen.
“I believe the government needs to show more dedication, determination and commitment especially when it comes to eradicating political corruption which is still prevalent,” she insisted.
