Punishment for corrupt persons not deterring enough - Kan Dapaah

The Director of the Centre for Public Accountability at University of Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA) Dr Albert Kan-Dapaah is skeptical in the ability of the country to adequately fight corruption if the current structures continued to be relied on.

Albert Kan Dapaah observes that punishment meted out to persons engaged in corrupt practices are not deterring enough for which reason there is a growing trend of corruption in most public institutions.

He argues that there are ‘structural defects’ in curbing corrupt practices that have caught up well with some individuals who are of the view they can perpetrate the acts and get away because the sanctions are always minimal.

Former Minister of Defence under erstwhile Kufuor administration on Abusua Nkommo said the country is abound with resources capable of transforming the economy but corruption is robbing managers of this opportunity.

According to him, corruption is partly to blame for the increasing poverty rate in the country with various actors complicit.

“I am not saying Ghana is fabulously rich, but looking at the numerous natural resources available to us as a state, I am surprised at the rate of poverty in Ghana. Poverty has become so prevailing that sometimes I wonder”.

“As a country, corruption has become so attractive because we do not have proper systems in place to check civil and public servants”.

“Imagine a civil servant who earns around GH¢10, 000 donating GH¢30,000 at public and social events, even in churches…go and see the huge amounts these people donate, it is very scary and I ask, where do they get these monies from?”

He advocated for effective sanctions for culprits of corrupt practices in Ghana to save the national purse with proper structures put in place.