The fight against corruption is proving to be an unruly bride indeed – Special Prosecutor

Kissi Agyebeng, the Special Prosecutor, expressed concern with Ghana’s unchanging Corruption Perception Index ranking, underscoring the country’s failure to make meaningful progress in combating corruption.

He was responding to Ghana’s latest ranking released by Transparency International (TI) on Tuesday, January 30, 2024.

Ghana recorded 43 out of a possible 100, securing the 70th position out of 180 countries and territories in the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) 2023.

The country has over the past four years, failed to move this figure.

Four out of six Sub-Saharan African countries that maintained a stagnant score for four or more consecutive years experienced a subsequent decline in their CPI score the following year, representing a concerning trend.

The OSP in his reaction asserted that “We are standing at a single spot spinning around slowly on one foot in a circle, much like a gyroscope, the conversation is becoming sterile.

“The fight against corruption is proving to be an unruly bride indeed…we are not recording much success and progress is hampered, and we are unable to move the needle appreciably to improve our scorecard.”

“We certainly know the cure to the malaise but we are unwilling to take the medication fully, it is as if we don’t want to actually cure it though we reckon it is slowly killing us. it is as if we do not know what we want.”

The Score

In Sub-Saharan Africa, Ghana scored better than 39 other countries, including Burkina Faso (41), South Africa (41), Côte d’Ivoire (40), Tanzania (40), and Lesotho (39).

It however ranked lower than seven countries in the region, including Mauritius (51), Namibia (49), and Sao Tome and Principe (45).

The average score for African countries remains low, at just 33 out of 100, with 90% of Sub-Saharan African nations scoring below 50.

Under the theme of “Corruption and Justice,” the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) for 2023 shows that Ghana’s stagnant score reflects a global trend of failed justice systems, which in turn allows corruption to flourish.