According to a recent Transparency International Survey reported by the U.S. News, Ghana ranks 3rd amongst the 10 most corrupt countries in the world.[1] To many observers this may come as a total shock because Ghana is a relatively peaceful democratic country. There are elections every four years and they are vigorously contested by the two dominant political parties. The elections are, for the most part, recognized as free and fair and election disputes are settled by the courts.
Ghana does not have problems with drug-cartels, oligarchs, or criminal gangs. Like many countries, however, there is petty graft, extortion, and bribery especially in the customs administration, law enforcement and the judiciary. But compared to most countries, these are very manageable. Moreover, there is a culture of investigative journalism that focus on corruption and sanctions are often taken against those found to be involved in wrong doing.
Ghanaians are very friendly and pleasant people and Ghana is, for the most part, a very safe country. Incidents of armed robbery, kidnappings and ransom demands are very rare and newsworthy. Moreover, Ghana is a very religious country and Ghanaians take the teachings of the Bible and Koran very seriously.
The Ghanaian Outrage
Despite all these features, the real shocker in the survey is that Ghana is not ranked as the most corrupt country in the world! The Transparency International defines corruption as the misuse of public power for private benefit. And Ghana is a country where awarding government contracts to self, family, friends (especially girlfriends), and/or party members is not just the norm but is socially sanctioned and politically mandated. This is cronyism par excellence and it is the result of “winner takes all” feature of Ghanaian politics. And the prize for the winner is the control of the public purse, economic policymaking, and the authority to make appointment and award licenses, and contracts.
Ghanaians get incensed when bribery, extortion and thievery is exposed. In this context, many rightly admire investigative journalist such as Anas Ameyaw Anas, and anti-corruption crusaders such as “Citizen Vigilante”. All Ghanaians applauded President John Evans Atta Mills when he “stormed” Tema Harbour to decry corruption at the port.[2] But as laudable and publicized as these anti-corruption efforts are, there is a very real risk that Ghanaians may be blinded to the more pernicious forms of corruption which involve the misuse of political power and the public purse for private benefit.
Wole Soyinka’s Lament
Wole Soyinka
Wole Soyinka’s lament may seem harsh but it is true that misusing political power and the public purse to award contracts to family and cronies is thievery and constitutes total disregard for economic justice and efficiency. At its worst it creates the grotesque income inequality which is a feature of Ghana today. It discourages true entrepreneurship and makes it near impossible for business enterprises to survive the political alternation of power.
The Agenda for 2020 and Beyond
In view of the dysfunction of the Ghanaian polity, corruption and the misuse of public resources for the sole benefit of party, family and friends, 2020 is likely to be without passion and be meaningless if political parties run on how “attractive and competent” their candidates are. What Ghana needs, more than ever, are dynamic, aggressive and “no holds barred” leaders committed to credible reforms. For 2020 and immediately thereafter, this translates into a commitment to campaign financing, procurement and emoluments reforms to reduce the influence of money in contract awards and appointments to the boards of and management of public enterprises.
In the longer run, nothing less than a total restructuring of political parties to be true advocates of the socio-economic aspirations of the ordinary Ghanaians will suffice.
[1] https://www.usnews.com/news/best-countries/articles/10-most-corrupt-countries-ranked-by-perception
[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ed57WhR5ouQ
you have rightly pointed out, the winner takes all mindset is not a progressive approach. Maybe its time for a review of our current electoral system. This review may include studying the proportional representation system s it pertains in other countries. Scandinavian countries give a good example of this system. With this system, every vote counts. So we cannot have a party with fewer votes forming government. This leads to a lot of horse trading which ensures the public good is protected.
The 1992 constitution currently being used is the bane of our problems. The constitution encourages corruption to the hilt. Unlike the previous constitution which clearly separated the executive from the legislature, the current fusion of the two bodies highly encourages corruption. Most MPs of the ruling government want to be Ministers thus kowtowing to the Executive through various corrupt activities. Once corruption starts from the top, nothing can stop it from going down. This is the sad situation we find ourselves in Ghana.
Unfortunately, all past and present leaders including the late brother of the author of this post know this point I have just raised but greed on their part has cost us this far.
The author of this post would have done this country the best of service had he advised his late brother when he was President of Ghana and not now that things are virtually out of control and he seem to be losing out.