In spite of a number of legislations passed which put in place a solid legal framework for combatting corruption, Ghana has failed to make significant progress in its fight against corruption.

The observation was made by Mary Awelana Addah, Programmes Manager at the Ghana Integrity Initiative.

She made the comment at a Leadership Dialogue Series organized by the Centre for Social Justice, under the theme, Uprooting Public Sector and Political Corruption in Ghana.

She said, “the passage of legislations like the Whistle Blower Act, Declaration of Assets and Disqualification, Act 1998 (Act 550), Financial Administration Act, 2003 (Act 654), the Public Procurement Act, 2003 (Act 663) and the Internal Audit Agency Act, 2003 (Act 658) should have placed Ghana as a shining example of nations with higher integrity, unfortunately, the story today is the opposite”

According to her, the evidence of Ghana’s fight against corruption per surveys such as the Corruption Perception index since 2012, when the index became comparable doesn’t paint an encouraging picture, with a 2020 score of 43 out of a possible clean score of 100 and ranked 75th out of 180 countries/territories.

“A trend analysis of Ghana’s Corruption Perception Index score since 2012 indicates the best score thus far has been 48 in 2016. Since then Ghana has been on a downward trajectory”.

She said that the causes of corruption include a culture of impunity among officeholders, low public sector wages and societal expectation of largesse and patronage from government appointees.

According to Mrs. Addah, combatting corruption involves the combined efforts of the Audit Service, civil society, MMDAs, parliament and ordinary citizens.

She advocated active engagement with MMDAs to implement audit recommendations as a way of minimising corruption.

She also called for audit reports to be made relevant to the citizenry by breaking down the figures and showing exactly what the lost resources could have done in terms of social service delivery.

Other speakers at the event were Justice Yaw Appau, a Justice of the Supreme Court and Manasseh Azure Awuni, Investigative Journalist and Editor in Chief of the Fourth Estate, Media Foundation for West Africa.