Ghana lags behind enforcement of corruption laws — CHRAJ

Ghana has made strides in legal and institutional laws to combat corruption but the enforcement of the laws remains outstanding.

This observation was made by the Implementation Review Group (IRG) that evaluated the country’s implementation of the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC).

The UNCAC is the first multilateral convention negotiated by members of the United Nations and the first international anti-corruption instrument.

Ghana ratified the convention in June 2007 and, subsequently, developed the National Anti-Corruption Action Plan (NACAP) in 2012, in line with its international obligations in the fight against corruption.

Personal campaign

The acting Commissioner of CHRAJ, Mr Richard Quayson, briefing the Daily Graphic on the strides made and the way forward after the Conference of Parties to the UNCAC on September 3 and 4, 2015, said the fight against corruption depended on Ghanaians and their awareness of the debilitating effects of corruption on their well-being.

That awareness, he maintained, had to incite all to fight against corruption and take on the fight as a personal campaign.

He said citizens were the key partners in the fight, as they had much to lose if the canker was allowed to fester.

Given that awareness, he said, citizens had to actively engage in anti-corruption campaigns by reporting on instances of corruption and questioning duty bearers on services and policies.

Mr Quayson said in the NACAP, the country had adopted the rights-based approach that had citizens as focal persons in the anti-corruption campaign.

Strides

The IRG observed that no jurisdiction for corruption offences committed abroad had been established in the implementation of articles relating to bribery and the trading of influence.

The country had, however, made strides in criminalising the bribery of public officials under its Criminal Offences Act.

Laws such as the Public Procurement Act also covered some aspects of active bribery in the private sector.

Issues such as money laundering, embezzlement, etc, under the UNCAC had been catered for under various laws such as the Criminal Offences Act, the Anti-Terrorism Act, the Economic and Organised Crime Act and several other laws.

Meeting

The Conference of Parties to the UNCAC afforded parties the opportunity to share experiences in their countries.

Ghana has been through a cycle of review since 2013, reporting on its implementation of the criminalisation of offences and international cooperation under the convention.

Currently, the country has moved to a second phase of reporting under the UNCAC relating to the recovery of assets lodged abroad by corrupt officials and the prevention of corruption.

Mr Quayson said there was the strong urge by developing countries to work to ensure that public officials did not hoard the scarce resources needed for development in safe havens abroad.