Ghana is still buried in graft, as it has stagnated in the 2022 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) scoring 43 out of 100 for the third time, despite the appointment of the new Special Prosecutor, who according to President Akufo-Addo, is supposed to help fight the canker.
The country, has maintained the embarrassing score since 2020 under a President who campaign on the anti-corruption tag as “incorruptible”.
“I am not corrupt, I am can’t be corrupted” he once declared, but under him, the country has not seen any improvement in the area with the daily reports of corruption, nepotism and cronyism among others.
Audit reports from the Auditor General since the inception of the current government, has been breathtaking. One of such reports was recently released on the COVID-19 funds, and millions of Ghana cedis, were identified as misapplied or unaccounted for.
Three countries at the bottom of the list are South Sudan (13), Syria (13) and Somalia (12).
On the African continent, Seychelles continues to lead the region with a CPI score of 70, followed by Botswana and Cabo Verde, each with 60.
Burundi (17), Equatorial Guinea (17), South Sudan (13) and Somalia (12) performed the lowest in the bloc.
“Seychelles continues to lead the region with a CPI score of 70, followed by Botswana and Cabo Verde, each with 60. Burundi 17, Equatorial Guinea 17, South Sudan 13, Somalia 12 perform the lowest,” the International Transparency International report stated.
The country currently ranks 72nd out of 180 countries ranked in the world. This was captured in a report released by Transparency International.
Since its inception in 1995, the Corruption Perceptions Index, Transparency International’s flagship research product, has become the leading global indicator of public sector corruption.
Per the latest report released on January 31, 2023, Denmark is leading the chart with a score of 90, followed by Finland with a score of 87.
Meanwhile, the Programmes Manager of the Ghana Integrity Initiative, Mrs. Mary Awelana Addah, in a Citi News interview, said the development means Ghana is not making any progress in its fight against corruption.
“This lack of progress is a worrying phenomenon. It means that our fight against corruption is at a standstill and I believe it’s a source of worry because we all know and see the evidence of that in our policy space each and every day,” she added.
Mrs Addah, said Ghana’s stagnation on the index could be attributed to bribery, perceptions about the diversion of public funds during the COVID-19 pandemic, state capture, nepotism and the use of public office for private gain.
