Ghana’s anti-corruption campaign shows zero improvement – GII

Ghana scored 43 out of a clean score of 100 and ranked 70th out of 180 countries and territories included in the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) 2023 released today, 30th January 2024 by Transparency International (TI).

This marks the fourth consecutive year of stagnation in Ghana’s anti-corruption efforts, as indicated by the CPI.

Four out of six Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries (representing 67%) that maintained a stagnant score for four or more consecutive years, experienced a subsequent decline in their CPI score.

This revelation raises concerns about Ghana’s stagnated scores. Is Ghana going to be able to marshal the needed reforms to rewrite the script or will Ghana join the 67% come CPI 2024?

The CPI 2023 scores and ranks 180 countries and territories by their perceived levels of public sector corruption.

In the case of Ghana, the CPI draws upon 9 data sources that capture the assessment of 2 experts and business executives on a number of corrupt behaviours in the public sector.

It uses a scale of zero (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean). These perceptions are largely fueled by experiences of corruption and a perceived lack of commitment from officialdom to address the issue decisively.

Ghana’s Performance vis-a-vis other Sub-Saharan African (SSA) Countries.

Ghana, with a score of 43, ranked 8th out of 49 countries in SSA which were included in the index, alongside Benin (43) and Senegal (43). Ghana with a score of 43 performed better than 39 other Sub-Saharan African countries including Burkina Faso (41), South Africa (41), Côte d’Ivoire (40), Tanzania (40), and Lesotho (39). While even countries including Mauritius (51), Namibia (49), Sao Tome and Principe (45) performed better than Ghana.

According to TI, the (CPI) scores for Africa this year reveal a mixed picture, with some notable advances in a few nations. The majority of African countries, however, continued to perform poorly, preserving the region’s continuously low average score of 33 out of 100 from prior years. Ninety percent of Sub-Saharan African nations received a score of less than fifty. The top performers in the region were Seychelles (71), followed by Cabo Verde (64), Botswana (59) and Rwanda (53). Sudan (20), Equatorial Guinea (17), South Sudan (13), and Somalia (11) had the lowest scores.

Corruption and Justice

Under the theme for the CPI 2023 – Corruption and Justice, Ghana’s stagnated score highlights a global trend of deteriorating justice systems which is reducing the accountability of public officials and therefore allowing corruption to thrive. The connection is reinforced by Ghana’s performance in the Rule of Law Index produced by the World Justice Project which demonstrates a concerning decline. In the 2015 Rule of Law Index, Ghana scored 0.60 and ranked 34, but by 2023, Ghana’s score had decreased to 0.55, with a corresponding drop in ranking to 61. François Valérian, the Board Chairman of TI is quoted as saying;

“Corruption will continue to thrive until justice systems can punish wrongdoing and keep governments in check. When justice is bought or politically interfered with, it is the people who suffer.

Leaders should fully invest in and guarantee the independence of institutions that uphold the law and tackle corruption. It is time to end impunity for corruption.”

According to the Rule of Law Index, the world is experiencing a decline in the functioning of justice systems. Countries with the lowest scores in this index are also scoring very low on the CPI, highlighting a clear correlation between access to justice and corruption Recommendation Independent, transparent, and well-resourced judiciaries and law enforcement institutions are central to keeping corruption in check.

In turn, preventing the abuse of political power, bribery, and other forms of 3 corruption from influencing justice systems is key to ensuring their effectiveness.

GII recommends the following: The Executive should urgently take steps to lay the Conduct of Public Officers’ Bill in Parliament ensuring that provisions on assets declaration require verification and severe sanctions for non-compliance while GII also calls on the Legislature to attach an equal level of urgency to its timely passage.

The Executive and the Legislature must take steps to bridge the legal gaps necessary for the prosecution of selected corruption cases outside our current legal framework.

These anti-corruption frameworks include unexplained wealth, influence peddling, and all aspects of the UNCAC, among others.

Government must give the justice system the resources and transparency needed to effectively punish all corruption offenses and provide checks and balances on power.

Where necessary, they must also introduce better procedures and laws to help justice institutions shield themselves from and target corrupt acts.

Laws that criminalise defamation or give judges discretion to award crippling compensation in libel cases inhibit the media from investigating and reporting suspected criminality and should be reformed.

Journalists must be able to comment fairly on legal proceedings and report suspected or actual corruption or bias. The Judicial Service should institute limited immunity for judges in matters related to judicial duties while excluding immunity in corruption or criminal cases.

Expand, strengthen, and increase knowledge of the public on the Public Relations and Complaint Unit (PRCU) of the Judicial Services. This will ensure a confidential and rigorous whistleblower policy for reporting suspected breaches, ensuring the involvement of lawyers, court users, prosecutors, police, media, and civil society.