The Director of the Faculty of Academic Affairs and Research at the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping and Training Centre (KAIPTC) has posited that government will not publicly react to the 2021 Annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices that highlights the many issues affecting Ghana.

Professor Kwesi Aning said this is because of the change in politics, especially international relations, as influenced by geographical factors.

Speaking on JoyNews' Newsfile on Saturday, he said: "I don't think government is going to react in totality to the report.

This report is from 2021. In 2022, the geopolitics of the world have shifted naturally. So yes, this report is critical, it is quite unkind to the government but we are on the Security Council. Our vote is needed. The couple of votes in the Security Council in New York, we voted with the majority to critique Russia.

Subsequent to the motion to kick Russia out of the Human Rights Council in Geneva, we didn't support that vote. So government itself realizes that it has little leverage now."

Interacting with host, Samson Lardy Anyenini, Prof. Aning noted that government would rather use the backdoor to address its grievances.

"So I think government is going to keep quiet and there may be some back door kind of conversation," he said; adding that "the relationship between the two countries will continue to grow."

The United States Department of State in its Annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices observed that corruption is still prevalent in Ghana.

According to the report, “officials frequently engaged in corrupt practices with impunity.”

It also noted that although laws stipulate punishments for corrupt officials, the government hardly implements them effectively.

“Corruption was present in all branches of government, according to media and NGOs, including recruitment into the security services.

“Since the first Special Prosecutor took office in 2018, no corruption case undertaken by that office resulted in a conviction. When the new Special Prosecutor took office in August, his staff included one investigator and one prosecutor, both seconded from other offices," parts of the report read.

Also, the 2021 Annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices revealed that the 2020 general election was transparent, free and fair; adding that it reflected the will of the people.

It noted that despite violent scenes at some of the centres, the verdict, which saw President Akufo-Addo winning another term to govern Ghanaians, was very credible.

“Domestic and international observers assessed the December 2020 presidential and parliamentary elections to be transparent, inclusive, credible, and reflecting the will of the people.”

“Some observers noted concerns regarding the misuse of incumbency, the lack of enforcement of regulations on campaign financing, and unequal access to state-owned media during the campaign,” the report added.

For Professor Aning, the 2021 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices merely rehashes concerns that have been raised on several occasions by local activists and thus should not be treated as a novelty.