General News, Ghana Homepage, of Friday, 9 December 2005 highlighted on Transparency International?s (TI) recent (2005) global report and pointed out that Ghanaians pay 20% of their national per capital income in bribes. Although the TI report stated that corruption is on the rise globally, particularly, in Third World countries, this author does not understand why it should apply to Ghana in full force when the government has supposedly launched a program of Zero Tolerance For Corruption and set up various committees to curb the practice. There are supposed to be people/officials on government payroll to do this. This author wishes to compare the increase in corruption in the present regime with its zero tolerance to the former regime where there was no such thing as zero tolerance. In the P/NDC era, if I am not mistaken, I would say it was free for all and corruption seemed accepted as the order of the day. This time it is supposed to be forbidden by all and yet allowed in government? If my assertion is wrong then why should corruption increase from previous years when we now have the state machinery as watchdogs? The report is quoted as saying that: ?Overall, people rated political parties as the most corrupt institutions. But customs officials were seen as the most corrupt in many Central and Eastern European states while the police and legal systems often came top of the poll in Africa.? Why should our executive branch of government put up a front/fa?ade? For how long will our government live with a corrupt police force and turn around to give national speeches on ?Zero Tolerance?? What use is zero tolerance if and when the agency we look up to enforce ?zero tolerance?, the stated government policy, is the culprit of the highest order? Is the police force not part of the executive branch of government? Is the President not the supreme head of the police force? Or is the presidency playing games with Ghanaians? Can somebody tell me what the Presidency has done to reform the Police Force since he launched his campaign of ?zero tolerance?? It is unfortunate that the opposition can do very little to help matters since it has even the worse record. This means when they talk nobody takes them serious. All we are left with now is the people?s voice. Ghanaians must rise up and take up the challenge! Elect people with integrity to higher public office. You owe it a duty to Ghana. How long will the poor young mother allow the government to place its own interests above her child's? How long will our children and the ordinary Ghanaian be deprived of basic healthcare? Or be required to put our hands under the table before we get the basic services and or provisions required of a government? Is it not the role of the government to provide or ensure the provision of basic infrastructure and or healthcare in a polity? The poll, published on United Nations Anti-Corruption Day, found a majority of people in 48 out of 69 countries surveyed thinking the problem had gotten worse over the past three years. Among these countries is Ghana. According to the report people in Africa -- the poorest continent -- appeared to pay the highest proportion of their income in bribes, and on top of that list were Cameroon, Ghana and Nigeria, where households paid more than 20 percent of national per capital income in bribes. Earlier this year a research report produced by an independent Ghana group in USA was quoted by this author (http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/features/artikel.php?ID=88384) on how Ghana is losing millions of dollars in revenue due to leadership oversight. The report indicated, for example, that Ghana economy loses $10M a week in customer?s man-hour, waste of resources, and stealing from utilities providers - Phone, electricity, and water alone and $5Million per day at Tema, and Takoradi Habour in bribery and Man hours. The author of the article further challenged the government to dispute the figures or do something about this but as usual our government turned a deaf ear and would not comment. [Any Ghana government official with data contrary to the above could contact the group?s coordinators at Mberkoh@yahoo.com or 734 353 9447]. Why is corruption so deeply embedded in our government? We are reminded of the alleged government kickback in Kufour?s cabinet and Rawlings? cabinet. We have heard of NDC awarding government contracts to ghost names and sharing the proceeds among themselves and now it is the NPP (to the NDC for kickbacks). Ghana oh Ghana!
Against this backdrop we wish to point out that it is important for access to public information to be recognised as a right not a privilege granted by government. It may well be the most important tool in the fight against corruption. Thanks to the delay in the passage of the Freedom of Information Bill, we cannot call on the government to answer any questions. For the State Department would jump on anyone who dares and label any allegation as speculation under the current rules. In the present circumstances, the grapevine has become the only source of legitimate first hand information about the goings on in the inner-circles of government. No wonder Honorable NPP national Chairman, Mr. Esseku is still denying charges while admitting that tape played is really his voice. Where is our judicial system? These things can only happen in Third World countries. No wonder we are always begging for aid.
Unfortunately until the Right to Information law is passed Ghanaian leadership and government would continue to play on the intelligence of the people and take the people for a ride. This ought to stop. Our legal system has no power to investigate corruption allegations. Nor does the judiciary have the power to preside over corruption cases that lead to loss of millions of dollars in government coffers, let alone to prosecute corruption. The embargo on information makes it impossible to find the evidence to convict culprits. All the judgments we see coming from our courts are mostly about poor peasants and farmers being jailed here and there for stealing fowls. How can our courts justify their survival or existence on only trivial cases? What if the courts were to make up for their pay checks? If as a country Ghana pays 20% of national per capital income in bribes then our hope for the future may indeed, be dim. We need to do something about this; and it all begins with passing the right to information law (RTI). A right to information law would give citizens the legal power to attack the legal and institutional impediments to openness and accountability that dominate the operations of our government. What is RTI? RTI is inherent to democratic functioning and a pre-condition to good governance as well as the realisation of all other human rights. RTI has become part of the accepted international obligations of the state. This means that the right to access information MUST attract the guarantee of protection by the state. This is crucial because: ? It ensures that information is not gifted by governments to their people at their discretion but a legally enforceable right that cannot be narrowed or ignored at the whim of government.
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? It creates a duty-holder on the one hand and a beneficiary of a legal entitlement on the other. Non-disclosure of information is therefore a violation and the beneficiary can seek legal remedy.
? It indicates that information belongs to the public and not government. Under RTI the idea that everything is secret unless there is a strong reason for releasing it is replaced by the idea that all information is available unless there are strong reasons for denying it. The onus is on the duty-holder to prove its case for refusing to disclose documents. Hence it sets a higher standard of accountability on our government officials.
Thus it is the one mechanism that moves the locus of control from the state to the citizen, reinstating the citizen as sovereign. ?Transparency International, a non-governmental group based in Berlin with branches in more than 90 countries, said in their report that leaders could combat corruption if they made a determined effort.? Let?s hope our government would take note this time and pass the RTI bill into law. It all begins with RTI According to the TI?s global survey released on December 10, 2005, it is mostly under-developed countries and poor people who are often the hardest hit. This suggest to some of us that our governments contribute immensely towards corruption and it further proves to some extent that our governments like to see corruption deeply rooted for their own selfish ends. We need to pound home and find meaningful answers out of this research. Political speeches are not enough. They must walk the talk or stop the talk altogether.
It is crucial that the people of Ghana get more concerned about seeing to the passage of the RTI bill rather than welcoming news of proposed economic growth that never materializes. The governments of the underdeveloped countries have a way of concocting figures to impress the international world and no one dares question them because they would not open up the books.
It is the opinion of this author that should the RTI bill be passed in Ghana many of Ghana?s well informed patriots would be able to challenge our government to deliver. We can only hold them on their word if we have the facts but as of now the government is the sole custodian of vital national but public information. Yet we call ourselves a democracy!
According to the TI report, a U.N. Convention against Corruption, signed by 137 nations (including Ghana), enters into force on today, December 14. Ghanaians owe it a duty to put pressure on our government to put in place proper working systems (i.e., a PLAN) to ensure that our government sticks to their commitment of zero tolerance. No more political speeches and unworkable committees. And let me add that any system or structure in the absence of Right to Information law in Ghana is only a window dressing and white-washed. Let all Ghanaians join Ghana Leadership Union and tell/reiterate to our President (as we know he attended the U.N. Convention against Corruption that ''Signing the document and taking part in the photo opportunity is not enough,'' (quote from David Nussbaum).
*Thanks to Kwasi Kissi, GLU Treasurer for editing this article.
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