CORRUPTION AND DEVELOPMENT IN GHANA

CORRUPTION AND DEVELOPMENT IN GHANA

The nation’s development effort has being thwarted by many factors within its environs. These factors are numerous to mention but for the purpose of this write up my focus will be on corruption as a major factor hindering Ghana’s development. The state of the nation’s development now should have been great and better than it is now against all odds. As compared to the development of some countries in Africa which Ghana is far ‘older’ than. In the words of former Prime Minister David Cameron some years ago, he said, ‘As long as African businesses remained collectively blemished by this ‘fantastically corrupt’ label, few investors will invest in African companies and more Africans will remain unemployed and poor.’ This article seeks to make it clear that corruption does not emanate from an invisible source but the canker is as a result of attitudes and interest of all citizens. However a collective effort by all Ghanaians will help curb the situation.

An American IT guru, Marto Thomas, once said: “There are two kinds of people in the world: Givers and Takers. The Takers may eat better, but the Givers sleep better.” However, when it comes to matters of corruption, the popular saying is that: “Both the Giver and the Taker are guilty.” Dr. Gbenga Lawal of Olabisi Obasanjo University in Nigeria published a scholarly article in the Humanity & Social Sciences Journal entitled “Corruption and Development in Africa: Challenges for Political and Economic Change.” For the purpose of this write-up, it is important to share some of the salient points with the reader.

Dr. Lawal defines Development in the article as a process by which a type of change is introduced into a system in order to produce a better production method and improved social arrangement. “It involves a structural transformation of the economy, society, polity and culture of a country.” He went further to explain that the level and rate of development of any particular society is influenced by so many variables such as the political culture, leadership and corruption.

Although the scholar made mentioned of others things, I narrow the scope on the subject matter to corruption. According to Dr Lawal, in Africa, corruption has been at the center of development and an impediment of true and real development in the society. “Corruption has ravaged the entire African system, causing the continent to be the most corrupt in the world,” he opined. Since Ghana is part of Africa then the country is not exception of this canker.

Dr. Lawal continued in his article by saying that “Once corruption becomes entrenched, its negative effects multiply. It induces cynicism, because people begin to regard it as the norm. It undermines social values because people find it easier and more lucrative to engage in corruption than to seek legitimate employment. It erodes governmental legitimacy because it hampers the effective delivery of public goods and services. It limits economic growth because it reduces the amount of public resources, discourages private investment and saving and impedes the efficient use of government revenue and development assistance funds." He added:  “A nation that condones corruption is often besieged with a lot of economic, political and social vices.”  Having said all this, this writer is still optimistic that there is hope for Africa.

Since there’s hope for Africa as a continent in general and Ghana finds ‘Herself’ in this continent, then there’s hope too for Mother Ghana. Since the fight against corruption in the country, the use of violent and extra judicial methods to deal with suspected corrupt actors, did not address corruption properly. Subsequently, under the democratic dispensation, some other more civilized institutions were put in place to address the canker of corruption, which has and continues to affect the economic and social lives of the people, particularly the poor.

All through the Parliament of the Republic and institutions like the Economic and Organized Crime Office (EOCO), the Commission on Human rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), and the National Procurement Authority (NPA) have been in existence in dealing with issues or corruption. From the birth of the country in 1957 till now all Heads of State and Presidents elected have one way or the other made declarations to fight corruption to the least of their strength. Using the current president statement as an example, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo said “let me reassure you of one thing. Any allegation about corruption against any official member of my government will be investigated by the law enforcement agencies. And those who make these allegations better be prepared to support it when they are making these allegations of corruption because nobody is going to get away with it.”

There are always motivating factors for such a canker, and it has been identified that greed and selfishness as the major causes of corruption. Also the attitude of making more money among the youth and low salaries and income levels were the next major causes of corruption in Ghana. Corruption is viewed as alternative source of income to those who benefit from it while those who pay monies see it as the only way things or services get rendered.

Corruption affects us all. It threatens sustainable economic development, ethical values and justice; it destabilizes our society and endangers the rule of law. It undermines the institutions and values of our democracy. But because public policies and public resources are largely beneficial to poor people, it is they who suffer the harmful effects of corruption most grievously. Corruption moreover breeds discrimination among citizens in a country. And by discriminating, positions and roles are being placed in the hands of the favored and look at how they are handling our state of living in this nation that is meant for us all. We try to please the ones we know, thereby bringing differences among others.

Countless studies around the world show how corruption can interrupt investment, restrict trade, reduce economic growth and distort the facts and figures associated with government expenditure. But the most alarming studies are the ones directly linking corruption in certain countries to increasing levels of poverty and income inequality which our nation is not excluded. Because corruption creates fiscal distortions and redirects money allocated to income grants, eligibility for housing or pensions and weakens service delivery, it is usually the poor who suffer most. Income inequality has increased in most countries like Ghana, experiencing high levels of corruption.

Many acts of corruption deprive our citizens of their constitutional and human rights. But the question is how we, as citizens can eliminate this canker from Mother Ghana? The answer can be found in the following statements: we can all make an impact in the lives of others; we can all be agents of development in our societies and country as a whole and we can all be part of the development of mother Ghana but only ‘few’ can make the outstanding impact in the cause of time and history and such people are all Ghanaian citizens.

Felix Armooh-Biney
Blog: https://mynewantidote.blogspot.com
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Email : antidotefelix@gmail.com

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