Fighting corruption in Ghana: Role of Education

In an ideal world, people are nurtured to have collective positive interests that serve as a binding force enabling them to work in one accord for sustainable development. In the process, they are mindful of each other’s needs, altruistic, honest, transparent, and thereby, improve upon their personal responsibility and public accountability practices. In such a world, people are careful of what they must do and work towards a common goal for the good of all. Moral value systems are active, ensuring people lead good lives according to reason.

On the contrary, the thirst for power and its misuse; ‘get rich quick’ attitudes; making wealth an end; using power and wealth to measure happiness; quick fixes; greed; selfishness; unreasonable family demands; nepotism; ethnicity; personal hidden agendas among others override the common good.

There is a tug of war between persons and collective interests, leading to a lack of personal responsibility and public accountability practices. These vices have laid a strong foundation for the blooming of corruption in Ghana, resulting in protracted conflicts and unsustainable development. The purpose of this article, therefore, is to throw more light on what corruption truly means in broader terms, the daily activities people engage in that portray its practices and explore ways to address them to lay a foundation for anti-corruption practices to prevail.

Corruption

Corruption is a phenomenon that bedevils nations and dethrones governments across the world. It is an embodiment of political, economic and social vices. Its subtle nature has made it very difficult to deal with because it eats into the moral fibre of societies, making it “a way of life” or the norm of everyday practice. It is discussed by all in all spheres in Ghana, including in the print and electronic media, in workplaces, in marketplaces, in families, on the streets, in the church, and in schools.

Curbing or minimising corruption cannot be successfully done if the phenomenon is not perceived in its entirety. Definitions of corruption abound in the literature but most of them fall short in the broader sense of the phenomenon. However, two definitions in the literature that best suit the purpose of this article are that of Osoba (1996), who defined corruption as: “a form of antisocial behaviour by an individual or social group, which confers unjust or fraudulent benefits on its perpetrators, is inconsistent with the established legal norms and prevailing moral ethos of the land and is likely to subvert or diminish the capacity of legitimate authorities to provide fully for the material and spiritual well-being of all members of society in a just and equitable manner”.

Lawal (2007), states that corruption is a systematic vice in an individual, society, or nation that reflects favouritism, nepotism, tribalism, sectionalism, undue enrichment, amassing of wealth, abuse of office, power, position, and derivation of undue gains and benefits. Corruption also includes bribery, smuggling, fraud, illegal payments, money laundering, drug trafficking, falsification of documents and records, window dressing, false declaration, evasion, underpayment, deceit, forgery, concealment, aiding and abetting of any kind to the detriment of another person, community, society, or nation.

A critical look at these two definitions show consistency in views concerning the phenomenon. Corruption, therefore, may simply mean to lose purity or integrity. Irrefutably, it can be concluded that, corruption is exhibiting immoral behaviour that impedes progress in society.

How then can this canker, which is entrenched in the Ghanaian society that is eating deep into its moral fibre, be minimised for the common good? Are attempts made in the past and present only scratching the surface of issues or addressing the symptoms rather than the root causes? It is evident that a serious problem of this nature cannot be tackled without considering its root cause. Examining a problem from diverse viewpoints of cultures different from the prevailing culture of specific people results in solutions that fail to address in totality the issue at stake. What must be done to tackle the corruption from the roots to curb its blooming activities?

Corrupt practices

To this end, it is expedient to tackle corruption from a broader perspective bearing in mind the Ghanaian culture.

People point accusing fingers at public office holders, and politicians, but are they the only ones involved in corrupt practices? Considering the two definitions of corruption discussed above, it cannot be attributed to only politicians and public office holders as portrayed by many.

Corrupt individuals include those who use office resources including time for their own gain; destroy or use office property carelessly with the notion that it belongs to the government and the government will replace it; litter the environment and expect government to employ people to clean after them; build in watercourses and when their houses get flooded during rainy season, they call on government for help. They also include those who refuse to wait in queues but jump them to receive services without an iota of guilt; occupy positions they are not qualified for, and confidently make uninformed decisions that create more problems; tell their children to tell visitors one does not want to see that one is not at home (what manner of people are these children going to be in adulthood), among other negative practices.

Address corruption

Two fundamental approaches, formally and informally, can be used to cut off the blooming of corruption in Ghana to create a better future that promotes sustainable development. In the case of formal education, it is proposed that attention is paid to formal education where attention is paid to developing a new crop of graduates to become ethical leaders with qualities of responsible citizenship and personal accountability propensities that promote anti-corruption practices in Ghana, and informal education where parents are encouraged to nurture their children in morally upright ways for them to become good citizens. The next article will discuss more on how anti-corruption behaviours can be imbibed in students.

The writer is a lecturer at the Ashesi University.