Ghana’s rule of law and justice, a system that ensures that laws are applied equally and fairly to all individuals, protecting rights and preventing abuse of power, has seen the worst decline among 54 African countries over the last decade.

This is according to the 2024 Ibrahim Index of African Governance report. The report showed that the country suffered a 14.9-point index decline between 2014 and 2023, making it the worst deterioration in Africa.

The report emphasised that this is a matter of concern, especially ahead of the 2024 December polls.

“However, all security and rule of law related sub-categories have declined since 2014, spearheaded by Rule of Law & Justice (-14.9) and Security & Safety (-8.5), both on trajectories of increasing deterioration... concerning results in security and rule of law, with a presidential election scheduled in December 2024,” the report indicated

The rule of law and justice category of the report was measured using the following indicators: “executive compliance with the Rule of Law, impartiality of the judicial system, judicial processes, equality before the law, law enforcement, property rights, and public perception of the rule of law. All these indicators have witnessed a decline in the past decade.

Here is how the country performed in each of these sub-categories:

• Executive compliance with the Rule of Law

This indicator assesses the extent to which the executive respects the constitution, the government complies with decisions by the courts, and transitions of power are subject to the law. This has witnessed a 1.6 index decline.

• Impartiality of the Judicial System

This indicator assesses the extent to which the judicial system is impartial based on the independence of the courts, the autonomy of judges, and the appointment of judges. This sub-category witnessed the highest index of 97 when the current government came into power. However, it has declined significantly afterward to 68.3. In a decade, the impartiality of the judicial system has witnessed a 30% decline.

• Judicial processes

This indicator assesses the extent to which justice is accessible and affordable, due process of law and rights of the accused are guaranteed, trials are timely, and justice is enforced effectively. The process has witnessed a 13-point decline in a decade.

• Equality before the law

This indicator assesses the extent to which there is equality before the law and civil and criminal justice systems are impartial and free of discrimination.

• Law enforcement

This indicator assesses the extent to which the police are reliable and subject to effective misconduct investigations and sanctioning, as well as to what extent the criminal investigation and prosecutorial system is functional. Law enforcement has also declined

Overall governance in Ghana improved by +1.2 points, and the country ranked 7th in 2023 among 54 countries. This was an improvement from the 8th position in 2014. This was due to robust progress in key economic and human development-related sub-categories such as public administration (+9.7), education (+9.4), infrastructure (+9.2), health (+7.4), and business & Labour environment (+7.2).