Audio By Carbonatix
Governance expert Prof. Henry Kwasi Prempeh has expressed worry about an increasing Ghanaian numbness to corruption.
He said Ghanaians appear to have made excuses for which kind of corruption is really corruption.
"We have many, many classifications of what is corruption", the Executive Director of the Center for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana) said on the Joy FM Super Morning Show Tuesday.
Some excusable forms of corruption among Ghanaians are monies given to police officers in traffic to ignore infractions of road traffic regulations.
In an attempt to stress how dangerous these classifications can be in weakening a nation's psyche towards wrong, he explained that a sign of great corruption is bribing police officers.
"We think the money is small...when you allow that kind of visible corruption to go on unchecked it normalises it," he stressed ahead of the Kronti ne Akwamu Lecture, slated Thursday 30th August, 2018.
The CDD Executive Director said there is nothing that most symbolizes a functioning government than the visible presence of a police officer. Giving him a bribe, is, therefore, bribing the entire government.
"If you can corrupt the police, you can corrupt pretty much everybody", he said and pointed to this as 'the beginning of sliding down a slippery slope to the point where it is getting out of hand'.
Prof. Prempeh who maintains an active presence on social media also expressed worry about what he observed as a legalistic attitude towards corruption.
"When you make an allegation of corruption, you are met with the lawyer's response, 'where is the evidence' as if we are in the courtroom.
"When the people who are witnesses to the corrupt act, put you to the burden of coming up with evidence, you know you are not going to get anywhere in fighting corruption," he noted.
Prof. Prempeh said instead of asking for evidence of corruption, the measure of corruption should be whether a government project or programme offers value for money.
"What fails the value for money test, also likely fails the corruption test. If you approach it from that angle, you will catch a lot of people without being met with all this show-me-the-evidence talk".
Latest Stories
-
Financial Stability Advisory Council holds final meeting for 2025
14 minutes -
Education in Review: 2025 marks turning point as Mahama resets Ghana’s education sector
20 minutes -
Nigeria AG orders fresh probe into alleged intimidation and assault of Sam Jonah’s River Park estate staff
26 minutes -
Concerned Small Scale Miners commend GoldBod’s efforts in addressing gold smuggling
36 minutes -
Haruna Mohammed claims Ghana Audit Service undermined
42 minutes -
5 members of notorious robbery syndicate in Tema, Accra arrested
44 minutes -
BoG, SEC and FIC hold Joint sensitisation workshop for Virtual Asset Service Providers
49 minutes -
How Nico Cantor became one of the top voices in American soccer
2 hours -
Ghana colorectal cancer patients face low survival rates, KNUST study finds
2 hours -
Police arrest suspect in GH₵ 7.5m daylight robbery at Adabraka
2 hours -
Armwrestling: The Golden Arms’ 2025 Triumph and an Era of Unprecedented Victories
2 hours -
Ghanaian researcher wins ASCE editors’ recognition for modular construction study
2 hours -
Corruption fight: I don’t think there’s political persecution or witch-hunting – Edem Senanu
2 hours -
Police deploys personnel to heighten security ahead of watchnight services
2 hours -
Education in Review: 2025 marks turning point as President Mahama resets Ghana’s education sector
2 hours
