The 2006 Corruption Perception Report- Let's Not Be Overly Defensive Or Jubilant.

The Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII), the local chapter of Transparency International, on Monday released the 2006 Corruption Perception Index which indicated that Ghana had declined to its worst performance ever, and that it was at par with the 1999 performance during the NDC regime.

Reportage and comments on the latest index have been the usual two-dimensional approach; depending on the political divide one finds him/herself. It is this partisan approach that I find disturbing

The period under review saw the high profile instances, of the supposed Esseku gate scandal, the Dr Anane saga, the hotel Kuffuor palaver, among others. In the light of the extensive media publicity that these incidents enjoyed, i am personally not so much surprised about the nations ranking.

The opposition have chosen to celebrate the latest rankings, and for political reasons, you can’t begrudge them. Who says the government wouldn’t have jumped to the skies to celebrate and claim for themselves all the accolades of good governance, transparency, etc, had it been the reverse? After all, what was not said in 2002 when we chalked our greater success? I will however urge the opposition to celebrate in moderation as the image of the only country that we have should not be sacrificed on the altar and the expense of cheap, political, populist capital. After all, the report is only perceptual. What did they do about real corruption issues like sinking cocoa ships, the Obed Asamoah and the 50 million dollars, etc? Were white papers not issued to cover ministers and cronies that were implicated in CHRAJ Reports? Remember Ibrahim Adams and co issue?

Media reportage formed an essential part of the sources of information for the research work. Can it be said that the non-existence of the criminal libel and seditious laws has empowered the media to report more on such issues, and hence perhaps the equation that much reportage is tantamount to increased perception? Increased detection only implies that the doors of transparency have been opened wider and not that corruption has gone up.

May I know if the major conduits for fanning the corruption, the media, been assessed to see if their reportage is accurate and fair? I am asking this against the backdrop of the fact that most of the publications of corruption stories have been found to be baseless and false e.g. the Ben Owusu Mensah (of GPHA) vs. the Democratic (the pro-NDC newspaper). The paper was fined heavily for the false publication such that it nearly went bankrupt.

Or have we soon forgotten of the recent one involving Hon Hackman Owusu-Agyeman who recently stopped a contract that did not go through appropriate procurement processes. Was initial publicity not purporting that the minister had ostensibly cancelled the contract to that he could re-award it to his cronies? What if the minister had not been given a platform to clear his name?

It is in the light of the above that it finds the stance of government and pro-government spokespersons quite disturbing. The government has some genuine reservations, especially with a sitting government that has been one of its enemies cabinet member step aside as a result of a CHRAJ Report that did not even implicate him to corrupts charges (without the government’s rubbishing the report), a government that has been in the acquisitions of what has become known as “Hotel Kufuor”, a government that has improved the institutional framework through the passage of such laws as the Financial Administration Act, the Internal Audit Act, the Public Procurement Act etc. Passage and implementation of laws such that a government ministry has been stopped by a court of competent jurisdiction from proceedings with the about $28 million Macmillan books deal. What would have been the situation previously when there were no such laws?

The above is a clear indication that this government has a much more resolve and commitment towards corruption than its predecessors. Notwithstanding these, however, I believe government is also been overly-defensive. Instead of trying to punch the loopholes in the report, I will urge them to consider dispassionately the recommendations of the report and keep on with its efforts at addressing the canker. Anti corruption institutions like CHRAJ and Serious Fraud Office (SFO) should be further strengthened. There should be better remuneration, incentive packages, pension schemes, mortgage laws, etc, as these all feed into corruption. It should be noted that fear of the unknown (insecurity after retirement upkeep) contribute to corruption. This tempts them to attempt to make hay while the sun shines. They try not to wait till tomorrow to be wise as tomorrow’s sun, to them, may never rise.

Government, in a bid to save face, should not be overly defensive, the same way that the opposition should not be over-jubilant. Corruption is not about the politician alone, as is mostly our thinking. It is about institutions and us all. Let’s all advance strategies of putting the report in good use. Corruption starts from the bottom (don’t misquote me as I have not said it starts from ADAM) to the top and all angles should be closely looked at.

Views expressed by the author(s) do not necessarily reflect those of GhanaHomePage.