The destructive phenomenon of corruption and its apparent pervasiveness, both perceived and experienced, is perhaps best described by Kofi Annan as being: “especially destructive in developing countries with their delicate economic situations. It has critically hobbled and skewed Africa's development. There is no point in pretending that this is not true. Addressing the problem of corruption requires targeting both payer and recipient … African governments in particular must … make the fight against corruption a genuine priority. The costs of not doing so are very high in lost resources, lost foreign investment, distorted decision-making, and failing public confidence.” (Source, 'Global integrity in a changing world,' speech by Mr. Kofi Annan, UN General Secretary at the 9th International Anti-Corruption Conference, Durban, South Africa, 1999). The definition of corruption used for this article is the commonly accepted “misuse of entrusted power for private benefit.” From this definition, corruption may be categorized under three headings. The first is incidental corruption. This is small-scale. It involves junior public officials, such as policemen or customs officers; it produces profound public alienation; and it is often hard to curb. Secondly, there is systematic corruption. This is corruption that affects, for example, a whole government department or parastatal. Recent news reports, for example, indicate that the newly initiated school feeding programme and the Metro Mass Transit have been seething with misappropriation of funds, pilfering, and other malfeasances. This type of corruption, for instance, caused the collapse of the Omnibus Service Authority (OSA) in the 1980s. This type of corruption can have a substantial effect on government revenues; it may divert trade and/or development; it can only be dealt with by sustained reform. Thirdly, there is systemic corruption, that is, kleptocracy or government by theft. In this situation honesty becomes irrational, and there is a huge developmental impact. A classic example is the now defunct Ghana Airways. The following are other examples of systematic and systemic forms of corruption. False names (or ghost workers) on a payroll. The process of public procurement that gives wide scope for corruption (through paying bribes to secure contracts, over-priced contracts, insider dealing, claiming payment for goods which have not been delivered, etc.). Privatisation offers scope for embezzlement as state-owned assets may be under-priced and then bought by insiders or sold to outsiders for commission. A more pervasive form of systematic and systemic corruption is institutional in nature. Institutional features, such as red tape, lack of information, and inadequate enforcement of regulations are, if not indicative of corruption, definitely a factor that increases the likelihood of corruption in public institutions. In public finance for example, the lack of effective access to information provisions (which would ensure taxpayers are aware of their rights and less exposed to discretionary treatment by corrupt officials) and the absence of credible review mechanisms increase the risk of corrupt dealings. “Personal contact” between tax officials and tax payers, and discretion in the interpretation of unclear regulations, are conducive to illicit practices. The absence of measures designed to maintain the integrity of staff, such as the promotion and enforcement of ethical standards, merit-based recruitment and promotion procedures and regular staff rotation schemes to prevent the building of networks, increases the likelihood of staff exploiting corrupt opportunities. One area of institutionalized corruption in Ghana is in the area of public finance. This article focuses on the Property Tax Unit of the Kumasi Municipal Authority (KMA) in order to elaborate on the nature and extent of the incidence of corruption in public institutions of the local government system. I collected data for this article through a visit to Kumasi where I was given copies of documents relating to a computerization project that was carried out by the KMA. I also interviewed some few property tax payers and some assembly men. Nobody in the Property Tax Unit would want to talk to me when I tried to interview someone there by telephone contact in the last week of July 2008. As part of public sector reforms that have been part of the World Bank's ERP/SAP/HIPC since 1983, the Property Tax Unit of the Kumasi Municipal Assembly was computerized to ensure good accounting principles, transparency and accountability. The contract for the computerization project was awarded through a bidding process to a Ghanaian ICT company in 2005. The project covered 2005 and 2006. The company will be called Fifimu, so that the company will remain anonymous to prevent possible recriminations against its staff and the company itself. The computerization project included the development of software and accounting procedures to ensure transparency, improved public service development projects (roads, bridges, schools, community health centres, libraries, play grounds, etc), and enhanced public service in general in the city. Read more here. Credit: Akwasi Prempeh (ohenenana.prempeh@gmail.com)