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Make judicious use of corruption reporting platforms – GII

The Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII), local chapter of Transparency International, has encouraged Ghanaians to take advantage of the available corruption reporting platforms to report corruption incidents.

The GII said as part of efforts to make corruption reporting easier, many platforms such as the Advocacy and legal Advocacy Centre (ALAC), IPAIDABRIBE, and Eye on Corruption had been created.

Speaking during a community engagement programme dubbed; “Increasing Citizens Power to Fight Corruption: Contributions of the Judicial Service,” in Takoradi, Mr Michael Boadi, Corporate Affairs Manager of the GII, said Ghanaians must fully make use of such platforms to report corrupt practices and support institutions to work efficiently.

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Special Prosecutor resignation furore at a glance

This country set up the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) with the hope that it can deal with grand corruption of politically exposed persons; and, for a long time we waited for the OSP to bite. Therefore, it was refreshing when Mr Amidu released the report of an analysis of the risk of corruption in the Agyapa Minerals Royalties transaction. 

It was instructive because it was the first time that an independent anti-corruption agency established by any government in Ghana had undertaken an analysis of the risk of corruption and anti-corruption risk assessment of the processes leading up to the approval by parliament of public agreements as part of its statutory mandate.

Alas! The celebration lasted for only two weeks. On Monday, 16th November 2020, Mr Martin A.B.K. Amidu resigned from his post as Special Prosecutor. On Tuesday, President Akufo-Addo, through Chief of Staff Hon. Akosua Frema Osei-Opare, wrote back to Mr Amidu to accept his resignation. 

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Prof Stephen Asare: Agyapa Royalties deal just a gimmick to park debts off Ghana’s balance sheet

What Agyapa has been set up to do is to swap the country’s future cash flows from mineral royalties for immediate cash. It is analogous to going to the bank and taking cash now in exchange for your salary for the next x periods.

These types of transactions have several hidden costs.

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W.H.O. labels COVID-19 related graft as murder

All 54 countries on the continent have been affected by the highly infectious COVID 19, with over 1.1 million cases and and 27,000 deaths according to the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.

There have been allegations of corruption scandals involving personal protective equipment in Africa such as in Zimbabwe, Kenya and South Africa.

W.H.O. chief labels cases related to COVID 19 corruption as murder.

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Ghana has failed woefully in its fight against corruption – Kojo Asante

The Director of Advocacy and Policy Engagement at the Ghana Center for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana) says that Ghana’s fight against corruption has failed so far.

Dr Kojo Pumpuni Asante said corruption in Ghana is very prevalent and is pervasive such that people have accepted it as a way of life.

“People get fatigued by hearing about corruption because they feel helpless in tackling it. For me that is the most dangerous thing because it is an acceptance of a certain type of society where basically honesty and integrity are rare. If you are honest and truthful, you are actually at risk, they feel that you are a danger to those who want to be dishonest,” he said.

According to Dr Asante, tackling corruption goes beyond the two major political parties in the country.

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Ghana: Election 2020 – the Role of Citizens and Political Parties

Come 7th December, 2020 Ghanaians will go to the polls to choose (vote) their Members of Parliament as well as a President to run the affairs of the country for the next four years. The right to vote is considered as one of the first generation rights due to its implications for individuals’ liberties. Indeed, it is through the exercise of the right to vote that citizens express their preferences for which political party or candidate should govern them and also through which citizens hold governments accountable by voting them out of power if not satisfied with their performance.

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Is the independence of Auditor-General sacrosanct? – A critical review

The independence of the Auditor-General’s (A-G’s) office has become a hot topic in Ghana due to frequent removals and appointments by incoming or outgoing Presidents, and the recent clash of the A-G with the board and the board chairman of the Ghana Audit Service.

Importantly, due to the circumstances surrounding the appointment of the current A-G, the two main political parties have unfortunately become entrenched in ways beautifully described by a communication director of a major political party as follows: “They seek to undermine the constitutional office and mandate of the A-G by bringing in their usual NDC-NPP politics.”

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BBC Africa Eye and Anas Aremeyaw Anas expose Covid-19 PPE racket

An Africa Eye undercover investigation has revealed that some staff at the Ridge hospital in Accra, Ghana have been selling vital PPE for personal profit.

As the pandemic reached Ghana, the country faced a severe lack of essential protective equipment like face shields, masks and suits.

As the Ghanaian government pushed hospitals to gather as much PPE as they could, the country rallied round to help. Donors provided thousands of items for frontline medical staff fighting the virus.

Yet, despite these efforts, over 200 doctors have been infected by Covid-19, with a lack of adequate PPE often cited as one of the causes.

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An update on 3 major unresolved corruption cases

In this blog post, we go back to 2019 to find out the status of three groundbreaking anti-corruption cases in our bid to pursue cases from start to finish, prevent impunity and ensure reform.

The cases we will be focusing on are the Galamsey Fraud case, the Missing Excavators case and the ‘Contracts for Sale‘ procurement scandal.

GALAMSEY FRAUD 

On Wednesday, 27th February, 2019, ace investigative journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas released a 27-minute documentary titled “Galamsey Fraud Part One.” In an article published on Ghana Web ahead of the premier of the documentary, Anas authored the following: “A measure to minimize the mess and menace of illegal mining in the motherland is being undermined by men mandated to manage the menace, leaving Ghana at the mercy of mercenary miners and monstrous money-grabbers within the corridors of power.”

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How parts of the media in Ghana aid – rather than fight – corruption

Corruption is a significant obstacle to development, democratic consolidation and environmental security, particularly in the developing world. It involves a misuse of power in serving private ends at the public expense. Corruption occurs in both the public and private sectors.

There are different forms of corruption. Political corruption is a classic example. It is often committed by politicians and top government officials acting alone or collaborating with other actors to advance private agendas.

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