A Fellow at the Center for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana), Dr Kwame Asiedu Sarpong has called for an immediate system overhaul in the health sector of the country.
Reacting to the shocking details of a Corruption Watch documentary, “Pay or Die; The agony of pregnant women” the UK-based Pharmacist stated on Super Morning Show Wednesday, that rigorous education, revitalization, and other initiatives need to be introduced to halt the extortion of money from pregnant women.
https://corruptionwatchghana.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Dr-Asiedu-Sarpong.jpg300168adminhttps://corruptionwatchghana.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/CW-logo-100by80.pngadmin2021-06-14 17:56:312021-06-14 17:56:33‘Pay or Die’ documentary: We need a system overhaul – Dr Asiedu Sarpong
A retired Public Health expert, Dr Oben Apori, says he is not surprised pregnant women are made to pay for service delivery in hospitals in Ghana.
According to him, the exposé by Corruption Watch investigator, Francisca Enchill, dubbed: Pay or Die! The agony of pregnant women in hospitals is just the “tip of the iceberg”.
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Member of Parliament for Keta Kwame Gakpey has urged the Ministry of Health to investigate and punish officials of various public hospitals charging pregnant women unapproved fees.
Speaking to JoyNews, Monday, he stated that the practice uncovered in a Corruption Watch documentary ‘Pay or Die’ is unacceptable, hence the need to probe further and halt the extortion of money from pregnant women.
Pregnant Nana (Not her real name) is rushed to the Maternity Unit of the 37 Military Hospital in labour.
She is a National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) subscriber, meaning she did not have to pay for anything under the Free Maternal Healthcare policy but what turned up was a total cash-and-carry affair as she paid for covered services before being provided the needed healthcare upon arrival at the hospital.
Nana and her husband, a farmworker, lacked the finances to pay for the bills so every bill given to them was followed by phone calls to relatives and friends to beg for money.
After spending over GH₵3,000.00 already on bills, the couple is hit with the tragic news: their newborn could not survive.
https://corruptionwatchghana.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/CW-Twitter-Artwork-9.png5121024adminhttps://corruptionwatchghana.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/CW-logo-100by80.pngadmin2021-06-14 12:04:222021-06-14 20:06:42Full Report: Pay or Die: The agony of pregnant women in hospitals
Senior Vice President of IMANI Africa, Kofi Bentil has stated that some individuals are riding on the Covid-19 pandemic to exploit the country and engage in grand corrupt schemes.
Mr Bentil speaking on Newsfile, June 12, told JoyNews that both the past and current government have leveraged on crisis that hit the country and some cases, globally to indulge in shady activities.
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Since independence in 1957, Ghanaians have been plagued with corruption by which I mean taking what is not yours in an official capacity. Corruption can simply be peddling influence for monetary gains that is not gained meritoriously. Corruption can be demanding payment for services you render to people in an official government capacity.
Corruption can be outright demand for bribe, gift, largesse or what is commonly referred to as “greasing the palm, brown envelope, or gorro for the boys” All post-independence leaders in Ghana have had to deal with corruption as a national problem. One can also argue that all military coups in Ghana have cited corruption as the justification for their overthrow of the government. So why is corruption so pervasive in Ghana?
https://corruptionwatchghana.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/85A4028-scaled.jpg17072560adminhttps://corruptionwatchghana.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/CW-logo-100by80.pngadmin2021-06-14 10:51:322021-06-14 10:51:35Corruption in Ghana: Causes and Suggestions for A Corrupt-Free Society
A few weeks ago a group launched a campaign with the hashtag FixTheCountry. The group was calling on the Government to fix the unstable electricity and water supply, reduce the incidence of corruption, stop illegal mining and solve the unemployment problem.
Another group opposed to the FixTheCountry group emerged with the hashtag FixYourself.
Sovereignty they say resides and flows from the people so the people have a right to question ineffective government policies and actions and condemn unethical behaviour. People have important roles to play in the development of a nation.
Unfortunately, in Ghana the active participation of the people is limited to lining up to cast a vote at polling booths and the occasional complaints and participation in demonstrations and strikes. We hardly question our political leaders except at election time. Do we hold our leaders accountable for their actions and decisions?
https://corruptionwatchghana.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/fixthecountry_logo.png540600adminhttps://corruptionwatchghana.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/CW-logo-100by80.pngadmin2021-05-20 14:09:552021-05-20 14:09:59Ghanaians do not need to fix themselves - They need good leadership
A judge of the Supreme Court, Justice Yaw Appau, has stated that the fight against corruption can only be won if there is commitment and integrity at the highest levels of political office.
“The clean-up must start from the top. When the head is strong, the body cannot be weak but strong. But when the head is weak or rotten, the body too becomes automatically weak and smelly” he said.
Justice Appau was speaking at the 8th edition of the Leadership Dialogue Series organized by the Centre for Social Justice, under the theme, Uprooting Public Sector and Political Corruption in Ghana.
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In spite of a number of legislations passed which put in place a solid legal framework for combatting corruption, Ghana has failed to make significant progress in its fight against corruption.
The observation was made by Mary Awelana Addah, Programmes Manager at the Ghana Integrity Initiative.
She made the comment at a Leadership Dialogue Series organized by the Centre for Social Justice, under the theme, Uprooting Public Sector and Political Corruption in Ghana.
She said, “the passage of legislations like the Whistle Blower Act, Declaration of Assets and Disqualification, Act 1998 (Act 550), Financial Administration Act, 2003 (Act 654), the Public Procurement Act, 2003 (Act 663) and the Internal Audit Agency Act, 2003 (Act 658) should have placed Ghana as a shining example of nations with higher integrity, unfortunately, the story today is the opposite”
According to her, the evidence of Ghana’s fight against corruption per surveys such as the Corruption Perception index since 2012, when the index became comparable doesn’t paint an encouraging picture, with a 2020 score of 43 out of a possible clean score of 100 and ranked 75th out of 180 countries/territories.
https://corruptionwatchghana.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/CWatch-on-Joy.jpg7201280adminhttps://corruptionwatchghana.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/CW-logo-100by80.pngadmin2021-05-20 11:36:572021-05-20 11:36:59Ghana’s corruption performance has been in decline since 2012 – Mary Awelana Addah
You might have heard some time ago about the over US$3.6bn gold that was shipped out of Ghana to India without going through the necessary processes.
Compare that with the over US$6.3 billion Corruption Watch has discovered from our analysis of available data.
In 2016, information came through that between January 2014 and January 2016, a total of 101,179 kg of gold valued at US$3,607,415,756.36 was shipped out of Ghana to India alone, without going through the necessary processes. This certainly posed a high risk of money laundering and illicit financial outflows out of Ghana.
