Corruption normalised in Ghana – Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition

The Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition (GACC) has said corruption seems to have been normalised in the country.

“The GACC’s conclusion about the current state of corruption is that corruption seems to have been normalised among the populace,” the GACC noted at a media briefing on its Corruption Report 2023.

According to the GACC, this normalisation poses threats to the country’s development aspirations to transform, advance inclusive development, and as well move this country to ‘a Ghana Beyond Aid’ which will translate to an economically independent, confident, peaceful and prosperous nation.”

The GACC indicated that recent happenings in the country raise concerns that “the government is not providing the public with a clear pathway for dealing with corruption,” revealing that “Ghanaians feel that that some persons in authority appear to be sending wrong signals all the time. It is as if we take one step forward and two steps backwards.”

Per its reports, Ghana is experiencing: “Declining Performances on International Corruption Indices; Alarming rate of petty corruption (or administrative bribery); Deepening levels of grand corruption among public officers and institutions; and Election-related corruption and vote-buying.”

It emphasised that going forward government “must continue to invest substantially in the anti-corruption state institutions and intensify implementation of anticorruption laws.”

While the political leadership must also “demonstrate” that there is a personal price to pay for corruption by “speeding up the investigation and prosecution of corruption cases as well as recovery of proceeds of corruption.”

The year’s International Anti-corruption Day (IACD), fell on Saturday, 9 December 2023, commemorated the twentieth anniversary of the UN Convention against Corruption (UNCAC).

The global view is to use the occasion of the IACD to reflect on the positive changes brought about by the collective efforts driven by the Convention.

The Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition, in a determination to intensify its efforts at supporting the fight against corruption and corruption-related activities in Ghana, has initiated the “GACC Corruption Report.”

This is an annual report on the state of corruption in Ghana, and it is to be published every year in commemoration of the IACD.