Big payments into officials foreign accounts

In its lead story, the Dispatch says that its on-going investigations in London and New York, have given clues to why Ghana features so high in tables of international corruption.

According to the paper, in-depth interviews with senior officials of corporate bodies operating in Ghana, have revealed some of the methods used, which in the end, result in huge payments into foreign accounts of officials, including senior ones.

The Dispatch says that the accounts are mainly in British and American banks, with a few on offshore islands, making it impossible to trace in case of an investigation.

The paper says that there are some Ghanaians with access to people in power whose occupation has been termed as "influence brokering". These people are said to impress upon visiting business executives that they have direct access to some officials working close to the President or some Ministers of State.

They give proof by going to the homes of the government officials after work or on weekends with their visitors. Once these claims of acquaintance are established, demands for monies are then made to supposedly facilitate their businesses.

The Dispatch says that the irony of these situations is that if they should go through the normal transactions without these 'influence brokers', the businesses would still take off.