In a scathing critique of corruption in Ghana, Professor Stephen Kwaku Asare has likened the country’s handling of the School Feeding Program scandal to a village that has made peace with looting.
Using allegorical references to Chinua Achebe’s fictional Umuofia, Professor Asare painted a damning picture of a nation where corruption no longer sparks outrage, where public funds are stolen in broad daylight, and where institutions tasked with accountability are either complicit or powerless.
“A few days ago, a respected former Elder stood before the people and revealed something that, in any well-ordered village, would have sent the elders clutching their walking sticks in outrage. She spoke of how the head of the School Nutritional Program, an office entrusted with the nourishment of children, approached her with a bold and shameless scheme.
“The plan? Create ghost secondary schools filled with ghost students so that real money could be stolen from the king’s treasury. In Umuofia today, even spirits are entitled to school feeding grants.”
Professor Stephen Kwaku Asare, D&D Fellow in Public Law and Justice at the Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana)
According to Professor Asare, in any nation serious about governance and accountability, such a brazen act should have triggered a full-scale investigation, resignations, and prosecutions.
However, Professor Asare expressed grave concerns that the revelation was met with eerie silence in Ghana.
“Not a single feather ruffled, not a single calabash shattered in protest,” Professor Asare lamented, adding that “Even the goats in the marketplace chewed their cud in silence.” His poignant observation underscores the normalization of corruption in the country.
The renowned anti-corruption advocate posited that the idea that ghost schools—non-existent institutions—could be created to facilitate theft is not only outrageous but highlights the extent to which public office has been weaponized for personal enrichment.
The Vanishing Audit Report
Professor Asare’s concerns went beyond the revelation itself. He questioned the fate of an audit report compiled by the former Gender Minister Hon. Adwoa Safo, which she claimed to have submitted directly to the presidency.
“If a person presents evidence of outright looting, not suspicion, not rumour, but hard facts, and those in power yawn, what hope remains for recovering the loot? Where is the audit report?
“Who received it? Did the talking drums misplace it on the way to the palace? Or did it, like so many of Umuofia’s missing funds, simply vanish into thin air?”
Professor Stephen Kwaku Asare
His commentary suggested that Ghana’s governance structure has developed a habit of burying uncomfortable truths.
According to Professor Asare, reports of corruption, no matter how well-documented, often end up under what he metaphorically calls “the great anthill of forgotten things.”
This grim reality raises concerns about the effectiveness of Ghana’s anti-corruption bodies, such as the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP), the Auditor-General’s Office, and the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ).
Professor Asare expressed outrage that “if concrete evidence of corruption is ignored, what incentive do whistleblowers have to expose wrongdoing?”
Nation Desensitized to Corruption
Professor Asare drew a powerful analogy between Ghana’s current state and a village where the stench of a rotting corpse becomes so familiar that people stop noticing it.
“This is what looting has become in Umuofia—a stench so constant that people no longer notice it,” he argued. This striking comparison suggests that the Ghanaian public has become desensitized to corruption, no longer reacting with the outrage that such revelations should provoke.
This assertion holds water’ as recent high-profile corruption cases in Ghana, from the PDS scandal to the Auditor-General’s damning reports, have often led to public outcry that quickly fades into indifference.
The government, meanwhile, appears to rely on this short-lived anger, waiting out the storm until another scandal emerges to divert attention.
Professor Asare’s commentary also highlights the failure of Ghana’s institutions to act decisively. “Umuofia has no shortage of institutions meant to fight looting,” he pointed out.
Indeed, Ghana has a vast network of anti-corruption bodies, yet their impact remains questionable. The Special Prosecutor’s office, for instance, was created with high hopes, but its ability to secure convictions remains limited.
The Auditor-General’s reports detail significant financial irregularities every year, yet very few officials are held accountable.
If those entrusted with safeguarding the nation’s resources either look the other way or actively participate in corruption, then, as Professor Asare warned, “it is only a matter of time before everyone else is left eating from empty plates.”
“If the fight against looting is to be revived, the anti-looting councils must act. The missing audit report must be found. Those entrusted with investigating looting must wake from their slumber.”
Professor Stephen Kwaku Asare
His remarks are a direct challenge to the government and Ghana’s anti-corruption bodies to prove that they are still fit for purpose.
According to Professor Asare, the former Minister, Adwoa Safo, should be invited by the appropriate law enforcement agencies to provide further details on her allegations, adding that the alleged officials behind the ghost school scheme must be investigated, and if found guilty, punished accordingly.
The audit report must be retrieved and scrutinized to ensure that those who facilitated the looting of school feeding funds face justice. But beyond institutional action, Professor Asare is also calling on the Ghanaian public to demand accountability.
“There is a great difference between the ordinary farmer, who shakes his head in resignation, and those who swore an oath to protect the village from looting and plundering” .
Professor Stephen Kwaku Asare
If citizens continue to tolerate corruption, it will only deepen. Public apathy must be replaced with sustained civic engagement and pressure on leadership to uphold transparency and accountability.
Professor Asare’s powerful critique serves as a wake-up call. If Ghana is to reclaim its integrity, the fight against corruption must be rekindled with urgency.
Reports must not vanish, investigations must not be stalled, and those who steal from the public purse must not be allowed to dance in the marketplace with full pockets.
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