Political scientist at the University of Ghana, Dr Kwame Asah-Asante, has revealed that some public institutions that are supposed to ensure sanctity and fight corruption in the country are complicit in the act.
According to him, there has been enough conversations on the subject and that the real question which must be posed is whether the government is ready and willing to fight corruption. He indicated that the survey which was conducted by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) that found the Ghana Police Service to be the most susceptible to corruption is nothing new.
With this, Dr Asah-Asante expressed the need for government to be resolute in its decisions and acts in fighting corruption in the country.
“… We have seen countless reports from CDD in the research that they’ve done over the years. So, this has not deviated at all but are we ready to deal with it? Yes, we always want the world to believe us that we are fighting corruption but are we ready? There are very important things that we need to do.
“First of all, we need to have political will to fight corruption – we’ve seen governments in the fourth republic, particularly this government, and always it’s just rhetoric. But is that what we are seeing? This report goes to confirm what you see in Transparency International report. We are not close to winning the war against corruption because there are clear things that if we are serious about it, we will be able to do.”
Dr Kwame Dr Asah-Asante
Furthermore, Dr Asah-Asante stated that there are, aside the political will government needs to develop to ensure accountability and sincerity, the need for it to allow institutions to work. He explained that when government undermines institutions, they will not work, and that paints a gloomy picture of the country.
“The very institutions that are at the forefront of the fight against corruption, some of them are complicit here. You talk about the judiciary, police and immigration. So, where do we go from here?”
Dr Kwame Dr Asah-Asante
Relevance of socialization in building right morals
Also, Dr Asah-Asante highlighted the necessary element of socialization within the society. With this, he indicated that once government inculcates proper values in people right from their childhood to adulthood, the tendency of the people drifting from such morals are low.
“Issues about corruption and all that, where do we take them – at the tertiary level. It must start at the foundation of our schools. Let’s get into parts of our curriculum so that the children learn the basis of all these things, they grow with it, then we don’t wait till they get into the university or tertiary institutions where we begin to educate them about corruption, by which time, they would have become so adamant and unprepared to ensure there’s a change.
Also, the way we build things in our society, where we praise people for wealth that they have acquired that we even don’t know the source.”
Dr Kwame Dr Asah-Asante
Moreover, Dr Asah-Asante emphasized that all these things are factors that really contribute to corruption, and that it is even more unfortunate at the institutions, “because if you tie it to the concept of good governance, you need institutions at the forefront to fight corruption and they themselves are complicit, so where do we go from here?”
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) survey was conducted in collaboration with the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) and the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS).
Officers of the Ghana Police Service were cited as the institution most susceptible to bribery among all public officials in the country.
According to the survey, the Police topped the list with a high prevalence rate of 53.2 percent in 2022.
The corruption related report also ranked the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) officers and Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) Customs officers high on the list with a prevalence bribery rate of 37.4 percent and 33.6 percent, respectively.
Meanwhile, elected government representatives recorded lower prevalence of bribery involvement recording just about 2.9 percent.
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