Ghana loses about $3 billion annually to corruption, according to the country’s Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice, (CHRAJ).
The Deputy Commissioner of CHRAJ, Richard Quayson says the $3 billion forms 300 per cent of Ghana’s foreign aid.
He has therefore charged the Ghanaian citizenry to protect the country’s resources by demanding accountability from public officials.
Quayson made the disclosure at a recent National Anti-Corruption Action Plan (NACAP) Regional Awareness Campaign in Northern Ghana.
Mr Quayson asked rhetorically “why should Ghana continue to depend on foreign countries for her development she has the resources.”
He said the government’s vision to build the country beyond aid can easily be achieved by fighting corruption.
Ghana’s corruption index ranking
Ghana was ranked 81 out of 180 countries in the Corruption Index released by Transparency International (CPI) in February this year.
The country scored 40 as against 2017’s score of 43 – dropping 11 places in the process.
It is Ghana’s worst performance in the last six years in its fight against the canker. The CPI score indicates the perceived level of public sector corruption on a scale of zero (being highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean).
Ghana’s Auditor General, Daniel Domelevo has recently recommended the privatisation of the prosecution of corruption cases in the country.
He hopes that will deter individuals in both the public and private sectors from being corrupt.
“With due apologies to the Attorney General, it is not to take anything at all from her office. But the truth of the matter is that corruption cases are so plenty.
In fact, it is even difficult to prioritize them. And being the Attorney General who is supposed to prosecute murder cases, armed robbery etcetera, doing all that together with corruption becomes a problem,” said Mr Domelevo at a Forum.
“So I am suggesting that we should look at how to privatise or commercialize the prosecution of corruption and corruption related cases.
So that the grand ones which the Attorney General and the office of the Special Prosecutor will like to keep, they can keep them,” he stated.
Source: Africafeeds.com
