Corruption Ghana’s challenge – German Ambassador

German Ambassador to Ghana, Christoph Retzlaff, has identified corruption and micro-economic instability as the major challenges hindering the accelerated development of the country.

According to him, Ghana has all the “ingredients” to succeed and become a rich country if corruption is nibbed in the bud or reduced to its barest minimum.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with Dr Etse Sikanku on Class91.3FM’s World Affairs programme, Mr Retzlaff expressed confidence the Office of the Special Prosecutor, if instituted, would help reduce corruption.

“The main challenge [facing Ghana] is micro-economic stability and you know Ghana is in a difficult position with the on-going IMF programme. We support the programme, we support the promulgation of the programme but Ghana has to make sure that the revenue matches the expenditures. There is a serious debt in this country and the government will have to tackle this and of course, there is still the issue of corruption in this country like in many other countries around the world,” he stated.

“Ghana is not a single case when it comes to corruption, but corruption is really a problem in unfortunately many societies and many countries. We have seen some many good and concrete proposals by the new government, including the institution of a special prosecutor to fight corruption. We are waiting to see this proposal implemented and I think that will be an important step to decisively fight corruption,” he added.

Despite the challenges, Mr Retzlaff expressed confidence in Ghana’s future. He said: “I’m optimistic about the future of Ghana. You have the potential, you have young talented creative people, you have of course a lot of mineral resources. You have gold, oil, gas, a vibrant agricultural sector so you have all the ingredients to make this country a success story again.”