{"id":102833,"date":"2015-03-27T15:03:59","date_gmt":"2015-03-27T15:03:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/4cd.e16.myftpupload.com\/?p=102833"},"modified":"2015-03-27T15:03:59","modified_gmt":"2015-03-27T15:03:59","slug":"defeating-corruption-in-ghana-mahama-is-the-key","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2015\/03\/defeating-corruption-in-ghana-mahama-is-the-key\/","title":{"rendered":"Defeating Corruption in Ghana – Mahama is the Key"},"content":{"rendered":"

In his annual 31st<\/sup> December message, former president Rawlings says \u201cGhana is saddled with some very negative images about corruption, some wrongly perceived, but some convincingly accurate,\u201d while the king of Akyem Abuakwa describes the level of corruption in Ghana as \u201cmadness\u201d. In their New Year message, Ghana\u2019s catholic bishops noted that the \u201ctwin\u00a0evils\u00a0of\u00a0bribery\u00a0and\u00a0corruption\u201d are ravaging every fabric of the Ghanaian society \u2013 a situation the deputy speaker of parliament and New Patriotic Party Member of Parliament for Essikado argues could make Ghana a failed state.<\/p>\n

Despite the strong civil society activism and media vigilance, the perception or reality of corruption doesn\u2019t seem to have slowed down. And it doesn\u2019t end there. Ghana loses a considerable amount of money to corruption each year. Between 2009 and 2011, the amount of money paid in judgement debts was just over GHS680million (about USD200Million). The amount\u00a0 equates the budgetary allocation for the agriculture sector for the period , and was more than the total accumulated revenue realised by the National Health Insurance Levy as at the end of 2011. \u00a0According to the Auditor General, in 2011 alone Ghana lost over GHS 170M (about US$50Million) to financial irregularities in the public sector. It\u2019s even taking a toll on expected revenues. In December 2014, the European Union announced they were withholding 135M euros in budgetary support due to corruption allegations.<\/p>\n

So, how can Ghana effectively battle this canker of corruption that is wreaking havoc on our society?<\/p>\n

Political Will. While there may be several other measures, like regulation, media vigilance, civil society activism, education, better salaries among others, very little progress can be made against corruption if we do not have an absolute resolve on the part of government to weed it out.<\/p>\n

Before elaborating on why political will is the key to winning the war on corruption in Ghana, let\u2019s explore other suggestions put forth on how to curb corruption in Ghana<\/p>\n

The first is the view that winning the fight against corruption requires a general increase in moral values resulting in a collective resolve of the general population to eschew corruption. While such an occurrence will be wonderful, it will forever remain a fantasy. There is no evidence anywhere in the world where morality has been used to successfully tackle corruption. On the contrary, the evidence suggests that countries that have been successful in fighting corruption attained success by increasing the punishment and removing the opportunities for corruption; nothing to do with a general increase in the level of morality or integrity.<\/p>\n

There is also the view that the cause of corruption is low salaries, and to fight corruption we should pay people in the public service well. This is a popular view and one that has been expressed even by people like Singapore\u2019s Lee Kwan Yew. This view however is not supported by evidence. In Singapore, the government actually cut public incomes initially when the newly independent government realized they did not have the capacity to support increased salaries. Instead, the government strengthened existing legislation in a bid to reduce opportunities and increase the penalty for corruption. The government only started raising salaries when they realised the public sector was losing talent to the private sector.<\/p>\n

A final viewpoint is that we need strong laws to fight corruption. I fully subscribe to this view, but without political will, it becomes difficult to get the right laws or even have the laws properly implemented. For instance in Ghana, laws can only be proposed by government, and the authority responsible for prosecution, the attorney general, is appointed and completely answerable to the president. It will therefore take a certain political will to enact laws that make the anticorruption bodies truly independent and make the enforcement of laws impartial and effective. In the end, to have strong and effective laws, you need political commitment.<\/p>\n

The importance of political will in fighting corruption is amply demonstrated in many of the economies that have been successful in reducing this canker. In his paper \u201cCombating Corruption Singapore-Style: Lessons for other Asian Countries\u201d, Jon S.T Quah identifies political will as \u201cthe critical ingredient for success\u201d in fighting corruption, and writes \u201c\u2026More importantly, Singapore\u2019s success in minimizing corruption can be attributed to the political will of the PAP government to impartially implement its comprehensive anti-corruption strategy of r<\/span>educing both the opportunities and incentives for corruption\u201d.<\/p>\n

Similarly, in Rwanda and Botswana, the successes in the fight against corruption has been largely attributed to the commitment at the very top.\u00a0 In enumerating the factors aiding the fight against corruption in Botswana, Dr. Gbolahan Gbadamosi starts with \u201cThe Commitment at the Top\u201d and writes \u201cIrrespective of the barrage of criticism by Batswana (as citizens of Botswana are known), the commitment of the leadership in ensuring good governance, improving the standards of living of the people and particularly in eradicating corruption is creditable.\u201d<\/p>\n

This commitment permeates a good number of the leadership in public office, civil service and the parastatals. The importance of top leadership commitment as a critical success factor in an anti-graft strategy is clearly demonstrated in the successes of Hong Kong and Singapore in recent times\u201d. Commenting on Transparency International\u2019s Global Barometer of corruption in 2013, Rwanda\u2019s minister of local government said: We\u00a0should\u00a0be\u00a0proud\u00a0that\u00a0our\u00a0country\u00a0has\u00a0been\u00a0ranked\u00a0as\u00a0the\u00a0least\u00a0corrupt nation in Africa and I believe this progress has been made due to the government\u2019s policy of zero tolerance to corruption in all public institutions\u201d. In all three countries, successes in the fight against corruption has been credited to the existence of political will.<\/p>\n

So what measures does Ghana have to take to use political will as an instrument for curbing corruption? Find out in part 2.<\/p>\n

Corruption becomes a way of life when it is perceived as a low risk, high reward venture. To make corruption a high risk, low reward venture requires strong laws and an almost draconian approach to the implementation of these laws. As mentioned in part 1, both functions of proposing legislations and implementing laws fall in the ambit of government in Ghana.<\/p>\n

There are two requirements for a strong anti-corruption legislation. The first is that the laws should be dynamic, changing over time in response to current circumstances. The second is that unlike in other cases where the burden of proof is on the accuser, in the case of corruption, the burden of proof should lie with the accused. This principle is aptly demonstrated by the \u201cConfiscation of Benefits Act\u201d of Singapore.<\/p>\n

Here is the essence of the law as articulated by Singapore\u2019s High Commissioner to Fiji, HE Verghese Mathews: \u201cIf you are a civil servant who, let\u2019s say, earns 500 dollars a month and if you are driving around in a BMW 5 series, your wife runs around in a Mercedes Benz Coup\u00e9 and you own a five million dollar house, by George, then you will have to answer them about where you got this money from. And if you could not answer \u2013 if you had an uncle in Idaho who left you that amount of money, fair enough \u2013 but if you could not prove this, it was assumed that you would have obtained it through corruption and you will be charged for that and your BMW, your wife\u2019s Mercedes and your 5 million dollar house would go. It would be confiscated.\u201d I daresay if we had such a law in Ghana, more than half our politicians and public servants will be found guilty of corruption.\u00a0 A little step for us towards this will for instance be applying more seriousness to the declaration of assets by public officials and making such declarations available to the public.<\/p>\n

The second part of this process of making corruption a high risk, low reward venture is the actual implementation of the anti-corruption laws. In our model countries of Singapore, Botswana and Rwanda, there is ample evidence of the impartial implementation of anti-corruption laws.\u00a0 In Singapore, there are several examples of high ranking serving government officials being investigated and punished for corruption.<\/p>\n

In a speech to parliament, the prime minister of Singapore declared: \u201cI have every intention to make sure that Singapore remains corruption free\u2026 and everyone should know that corruption in any form will not be tolerated. I expect all ministers, all MPs and all public officers to set good examples for others to follow\u2026. If there is any allegation against any MP or Minister of assets wrongfully gained or corruptly gained, the CPIB will investigate. If the MP concerned is unable to explain how he had acquired these assets, or why he had not declared them, he will be charged for corruption\u201d.<\/p>\n

This is in sharp contrast to the position held by the presidents of Ghana, who insist on evidence before any investigation is initiated. In Rwanda, the director general of Rwanda Social Security Board, Angelique Kantengwa, was arrested over alleged corruption. In addressing the situation, the president Paul Kagame noted \u201cThose who have swindled state resources must be followed and be prosecuted\u2026..They should bring it back we cannot accept this\u2026..Some people steal taxpayers money and when asked for accountability they buy Air tickets and run away claiming political persecution\u201d.<\/p>\n

In Ghana, while the situations like how our president handled the case of the accusations against the former CHRAJ boss gives some positive indications, in large part, his actions or inactions tend to give a cause to worry. For instance in the case of the GYEEDA and SADA scandals, one would have expected a lot more action. Instead the minister in charge of the sports ministry when they signed those GYEEDA contracts got handed a more lucrative Agric ministry to manage. And when the Auditor General writes in his report that \u201cI am not satisfied with the performance of some Chief Executives and other responsible officials in the management of public resources and safeguarding of public property and I call for more effective action from the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, as the lead Agency of Government in the administration of the public purse, to ensure that MDAs comply with the Financial Administration Act, the Financial Administration Regulations, the Public Procurement Act as well as the Audit Service Act which calls for the establishment of Audit Report Implementation Committees\u201d, you will expect a lot more activity from the presidency that we are used to seeing.<\/p>\n

Similarly, more than six years after the MP for Tamale South stated in parliament “Ghana’s Asset Declaration, as exist today is impossible to determine whether a public officer has acquired disproportionate asset\u201d, we have seen little being done to make the asset declaration law more than a window dressing gimmick. Instead what we have seen is a code of ethics with no tooth to bite. As the Hon. Oteng Agyei rightly reminded us when he was accused of taking some luxury cars belonging to the energy ministry, moral suasion alone doesn\u2019t do the trick. A code of ethics with no legal backing and a will to implement makes no difference in our fight against corruption.<\/p>\n

Without the political will, everything else we do in fighting corruption in Ghana will be to naught. As elegantly articulated by HE Verghese Mathews: \u201c\u2026 our own experience suggest that while the private sector, civil society, NGOs, governments, especially civil service, have all a role to play in building a coalition for transparency \u2026, there is no escaping that the most important elements will be the commitment, the dedication and the tenacity of the government. Without that, all that the other sectors do will be an uphill task. The government must show the political will, the commitment and the tenacity to carry out anti-corruption laws. I am not for a moment underestimating the role of the private sector or the other key players. But unless a government is serious and determined in putting an end to corruption and in encouraging good governance, again I say, it will be an uphill task for the other players\u201d<\/p>\n

Political will in the context of Ghana is the will of the president in fighting corruption. Our constitution in its present state gives almost absolute power to the president. If we can be assured of the resolve of the president in dealing with corruption, we will be more than halfway through wining the fight. In 1959, Lee Kwan Yew symbolically made every member of his government wear all white when taking the oath of office, and later resolved that \u201cevery dollar in revenue would be properly accounted for and would reach the beneficiaries at the grassroots as one dollar, without being siphoned off along the way\u201d. Corruption is a fact of life everywhere, a fact that former president Kufuor acknowledged when he famously announced that corruption started from the time of Adam. However, corruption does not have to become a way of life, and for Ghana to make any gains in this direction, we need to see a significant level of commitment from the President of the republic.<\/p>\n

–<\/p>\n

Author:\u00a0Abdul-Nasser Alidu<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In his annual 31st December message, former president Rawlings says \u201cGhana is saddled with some very negative images about corruption, some wrongly perceived, but some convincingly accurate,\u201d while the king of Akyem Abuakwa describes the level of corruption in Ghana as \u201cmadness\u201d. In their New Year message, Ghana\u2019s catholic bishops noted that the \u201ctwin\u00a0evils\u00a0of\u00a0bribery\u00a0and\u00a0corruption\u201d are […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":40696,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[],"tags":[8],"yoast_head":"\nDefeating Corruption in Ghana - Mahama is the Key - Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. 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In their New Year message, Ghana\u2019s catholic bishops noted that the \u201ctwin\u00a0evils\u00a0of\u00a0bribery\u00a0and\u00a0corruption\u201d are […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2015\/03\/defeating-corruption-in-ghana-mahama-is-the-key\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. 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