Corruption must attract stiffer sentence

The use of the word corruption in most public discourse has almost made it a cliché, gradually reducing the gravity of the act on society.

Many governments have paid lip service to uprooting corruption in public service and in the moral fibre of the people, as little has been done to stop the canker, thus making it look like a lost battle.

That is why the Daily Graphic lauds the government’s intention to amend the Criminal Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29), particularly sections 3:151 and 239 to 257, to make corruption a felony instead of a misdemeanour.

We pray that the hint of an amendment as part of measures being undertaken by the government to make corruption unattractive in the country as given by the Vice President, Alhaji Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, will not also hit the rocks as others before it, but will be followed through.

Indeed, as Dr Bawumia said, there is the need to also ensure transparency in public procurement by strictly enforcing the Public Procurement Act, (Act 663).

We also believe that all channels that are open for corruption to flourish must be blocked. Public officers cited for various acts of corruption must not be let off the hook as has been the practice, but must be prosecuted to serve as a deterrent to others.

The Daily Graphic shares in the sentiments expressed by a former Rector of the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA), Professor Stephen Adei, that politicians, political office holders and persons who have been involved in corruption in the past, must be investigated and dealt with in accordance with the law.

We believe that his recommendation that there must be a legislation to ensure that political office holders declare their assets publicly so that Ghanaians would know what properties they came with and how much they took away after their term should be looked at again.

The Daily Graphic also believes that the Auditor-General’s report, which always consists of startling and damning revelations on corruption, must not remain mere reports, but that the recommendations in those reports must be adhered to and officials found culpable, prosecuted.

Also, we must take seriously the annual rating of the country by Transparency International (TI) through its Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) since 1995 and accordingly deal with the issues of corruption in the country.

We should be concerned that TI’s 2016 report released recently states that Ghana ranked 70 on 2016 CPI and dropped four percentage points from its 2015 score of 47 points to 43 points  to become the 76th least corrupt country globally out of 176 countries - the lowest in Ghana’s CPI scores since 2012, when CPI scores became comparable.

We must also deal with the pervasive corruption in the public sector such as bureaucratic corruption and implement the activities under the country’s anti-corruption plan to lay the foundation for controlling corruption in the country as suggested by the Deputy Commissioner at the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), Rev. Richard Quayson.

Enough of the rhetorics. We need to see some action that will show that we are indeed ready and willing to deal with the canker of corruption, to make integrity in public office one of our cardinal rules in order to save the public purse for national development.