The General Secretary of the Ghana Mine Workers Union, Abdul Moomin Gbaana, on behalf of the Union has expressed great displeasure in the uninspiring attitude of governments’ towards the fight against corruption and corruption-related offences.
He said this during the second half of the National Executive Council meeting held today in Accra.
According to him, the menace of corruption goes as far back as the beginning of this 4th republic, and has further gone beyond taming in recent times.
“In fact, given the spate of corruption and aborted corruption scandals since the 4th republic, and the notoriety it has gained in recent years and the debilitating impact of the Ghanaian society and by extension the continent of Africa, reinforces the urgent need to confront this deadly cancer head-on.”
He explained that this is not just a domestic evil, but that it is common-place in all of Africa. He further states that, African States lose about 25% of the GDP or an equivalent of US$148 billion to corruption every year.
“A billion dollars is a lot of money, so if you have close to about a US$150 billion lost to corruption on the African continent every year, it’s a very gory situation,” he reiterated.
For Ghana, more than US$3 billion is lost to corruption every year based on IMANI Africa’s findings, he noted.
Considering IMANI’s findings thereof, he estimates that Ghana has lost in cumulative terms a whooping amount of over US$ 90 billion to corruption since the 4th republic, with the governance of the State having alternated between the two major political parties- NDC and NPP.
“Interestingly, both parties are up again for elections in the next couple of days and it is obvious from the trends so far, that one of the two will emerge winner in the general election come December 7, 2020, unless a miracle happens.”
“This means that the lesser of the two evils is likely to win and therefore the vicious cycle of corruption continues unabated,” he added.
The trajectory of corruption is nothing to be proud of as a country, as it has been galloping year-on-year. According to Transparency International, Ghana’s Corruption Perception Index (CPI) since 1998 averages approximately 39.0% and with an increasing trend.
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