Retired Supreme Court judge, Justice William Atuguba, has expressed concern over the ineffectiveness of policies and laws in Ghana, particularly in the fight against corruption.

In an exclusive interview with JoyNews, Justice Atuguba criticised the tendency of leaders to claim they are tackling corruption by implementing laws that are never enforced and questioned whether laws can operate on their own without deliberate activation.

"If not, then they are just put there as a deception, I will put it that way, complete deception. Putting laws and not activating them is a fraudulent way of exercising power. Very fraudulent, deceitful.

"You just give an impression, that we are fighting against corruption but you know that on the grounds it is vacuous. That is the trouble with this country. Very hypocritical, very uncommitted, very unprincipled, very corrupt. That is the trouble of Ghana,” he said.

He stated that unless there is a collective commitment to constitutionalism and better governance in the interest of Ghanaians, the country's efforts will remain futile.

Justice Atuguba also pointed out that despite the existence of these laws, corruption remains rampant, stressing that he is more concerned with the practical impact of laws rather than their theoretical frameworks.

He stated that the failure to effectively combat corruption is ultimately a leadership issue.

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Justice Atuguba stated that while various institutions have been established to tackle corruption, they will be ineffective if leadership remains poor.

“It’s a leadership problem in Africa generally. It is a moral issue, a matter of conscience, true commitment for operationalising the constitution we have adopted for ourselves. Trying to serve the people genuinely. If these are there, people will take steps to see that these institutions work to produce results.

“It’s a very big problem and it all revolves around genuine commitment to provide good and effective governance. We can’t get anything serious happening with that way of doing things and it's persisting. That is the trouble of this country and other African countries. We are not committed to the rule of law and constitutionalism,” he added.