Speaker of Parliament Alban Bagbin says that through Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee’s due diligence over public sector institutions, it saved Ghana over GH¢273 million at the end of 2024. 

The Committee also provided 252 recommendations to improve transparency and accountability within state agencies. 

Speaker Bagbin announced this during a courtesy call by a high-powered delegation from the African Union Advisory Board against Corruption to Parliament House, in Accra on Monday. 

The AU Advisory Board is in Accra on a week-long visit to review Ghana’s implementation of the African Union Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption. 

The Board would engage anti-graft institutions, including the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) and civil society organisations (CSOs) to exchange ideas and experiences, assess the country’s challenge in implementing the Convention, to chart the way forward towards curbing corruption and strengthening anti-graft institutions. 

Speaker Bagbin said Ghana, over the years, had shown immense commitment towards rooting out corruption through the passage of various legislations and the setting up of anti-graft institutions. 

He said, for instance, in 2001, the country adopted a Zero Tolerance against Corruption policy and subsequently passed laws including the Anti-Money Laundering Act, Whistle Blowers Act, Witness Protection Act and recently the Rights to Information Act to aid the crusade against corruption in the country. 

The Speaker also mentioned the establishment of anti-graft institutions such as the Serious Fraud Office, which was upgraded to the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) and the Office of the Special Prosecutor to enhance governance mechanisms against corruption in Ghana. 

He said the country had already established governance structures to combat graft, noting that Ghana’s Parliament had been at the forefront in those efforts. 

The Speaker said, for instance, Parliament had passed Code of Conduct guidelines for members and Staff, also revised its Standing Orders, as well as established a department of anti-corruption within its governance structure. 

It also set up the Privileges Committee, Ethics and Standards Office, and the Office of Profits to improve governance and accountability in its operations. 

He said members were therefore expecting every member of Parliament to live above reproach and be a shining example to others in society. 

The Parliament, he said, had also instituted the Citizens Bureau that provided a platform for the citizens and CSOs to petition the legislative body on issues of national interest for the necessary investigations and action thereof. 

On the continental level, Mr Bagbin stated he chaired the Association of Speakers in Africa while Ghana’s Parliament belonged to the African Network of Parliamentarians, aimed at promoting good governance among African states. 

Mr Bagbin gave the assurance that the Parliament of Ghana would continue to play a leading role in exposing corruption to promote integrity amongst Ghanaians to engender growth and prosperity. 

The Board was led by its chairperson, Madam Seynabou Ndiaye Diakhatè, who lauded Ghana for being a shining example on the continent in terms of fighting graft and explained that all African countries that had ratified the Convention were supposed to submit themselves for review in due course. 

She believed that the Board’s recommendations after reviewing Ghana’s performance would aid the nation in strengthening its anti-graft institutions and combating corruption head-on. 

The member states of the AU adopted the AU Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption on July 11, 2003, during the Second Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the Union in Maputo, Mozambique, to deal with corruption and related themes in Africa.