According to the US Department of State, corruption is still widespread in Ghana.
“Officials routinely engaged in corrupt practises with impunity,” according to the Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2021.
It further stated that, despite the fact that laws specify consequences for corrupt officials, the government rarely carries them out.
The US State Department stated that bribery is endemic in the country’s public sector, citing the Auditor General’s June Report.
Parts of the report read.
“Corruption was present in all branches of government, according to media and NGOs, including recruitment into the security services,” This, has resulted in the loss of huge sums of public funds.
“The honorary consul general and the Ghanaian consulate in Washington D.C. could not account for visa fees totalling $355,000. The Free Senior High School Secretariat misspent more than $3.16 million.
“A former Minister of Tourism retained three official vehicles for personal use after leaving office. The report concluded that corrupt practices resulted in $340 million of financial mismanagement, including misapplication and misappropriation of funds, theft, and procurement mismanagement.”
Corruption remains a serious issue in the country, despite the fact that governments have implemented numerous efforts to combat it.
To combat corruption, President Akufo-Addo established the Special Prosecutor’s Office in 2018.
However in the US State Department noted that “Since the first special prosecutor took office in 2018, no corruption case undertaken by that office resulted in a conviction.”
“When the new special prosecutor took office in August, his staff included one investigator and one prosecutor, both seconded from other offices.”
