Ghana and corruption: The unwinnable war?
Is the government winning the war against corruption?
Many Ghanaians believe the answer is ‘no’.
A February 2025 Afrobarometer survey indicates that more than eight in 10 (82%) believe the government is doing a poor job of fighting corruption.
Meanwhile, the 2024 Corruption Perceptions Index showed Ghana’s score dropping from 43 to 42, indicating a worsening perception of public sector corruption.
Soon after coming to office, President Mahama inaugurated an ‘Operation Recover All Loot’ (ORAL) committee to gather information on corruption.
The aim is to recover the proceeds of corruption and hold individuals accountable. Relevant information uncovered in the investigation is to be passed on to the appropriate government institutions for further investigation.
More than eight months into the new government’s tenure, some question the committee’s legitimacy and purpose, as well as its lack of legal backing.
Critics contend that the committee’s true agenda is a malicious one: discredit individuals, destroy reputations, and divert attention from the government’s inability to deliver on election campaign promises.
National Anti-Corruption Strategy
In May 2025, the Chairman of the National Development Planning Commission and Senior Advisor to the President on the Sustainable Development Goals, Dr Nii Moi Thompson, claimed that tackling corruption decisively would resolve more than 90 per cent of Ghana’s developmental challenges.
Dr Thompson described corruption as ‘the single largest threat to national development’, emphasising its corrosive impact on public institutions and resource allocation.
He identified a three-tiered ‘corruption pyramid', comprising, in the first tier, routine, everyday bribery, which erodes public trust.
Bureaucratic corruption is the middle tier, including procurement fraud, which diverts critical resources.
The third tier, which Dr Thompson regards as most damaging, is high-level political corruption, characterised by opaque party financing and inflated public contracts.
In July, Chief of Staff Julius Debrah inaugurated a new working group tasked with developing a National Anti-Corruption Strategy.
The working group is scheduled to deliver a comprehensive draft strategy.
According to Mr Debrah, the aim of the strategy is a bold reassessment that breaks with past assumptions, a collaborative effort under the Office of the Presidential Advisor on Anti-Corruption, working with the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice, Office of the Special Prosecutor, Attorney General’s Office, and selected civil society organisations.
The strategy seeks to emphasise ethical governance, strong political will and coordination among different government bodies
Laws
A lot is riding on the government’s ability to deal with – and to be seen to be dealing with – corruption.
An anti-corruption protest in Ghana
One of the main reasons why the New Patriotic Party was trounced in both presidential and parliamentary elections in December 2024 was that many Ghanaians just did not believe that President Akufo-Addo’s government was serious about addressing corruption.
The problem is not that Ghana lacks appropriate laws and regulations to tackle public sector corruption.
The perennial difficulty is a lack of political will and accountability, as well as an apparent lack of concern with dedication, selflessness and truth.
Ernest Harsch, research scholar at the Institute of African Studies at Columbia University in the USA and long-time ‘Ghana watcher’, recently published a research monograph, Corruption, Class, and Politics in Ghana.
Dr Harsch examines in detail and in great depth corruption in Ghana over time.
His systemic and chronological account of how public sector corruption in Ghana has economically and morally crippled the country illustrates that while successive governments pledge to ‘deal with’ corruption, none have come close to succeeding.
Instead, corruption, as many Ghanaians would no doubt agree, is getting worse.
Recent Afrobarometer data underline that for many Ghanaians, corruption is one of the main reasons why they are sceptical about the ability of democracy both to improve things in the country and to bring about a better life for Ghanaians.
So far, I have been referring to public sector corruption in Ghana, including in relation to both ‘big men’ and ‘big women’, that is, those with political and/or economic power.
However, the problem with corruption is that it percolates down from the top to other strata of society.
As the saying goes, fish rots from the head. During the 2024 elections, there was much talk of how political candidates frequently resort to trying to buy votes by handing out goodies and freebies, as well as, in some cases, gifts of money, to potential voters.
Some political candidates were open about this, saying that elections are expensive and one of the reasons is that they need to bribe people to vote for them, which costs a lot of money!
What is to be done?
There is little evidence to suggest that Ghana’s government is winning the war against corruption.
While anti-corruption institutions and laws are in place, they have faced setbacks and a perceived lack of political will to enforce them consistently.
Public perception and independent corruption indices indicate that the issue remains a significant problem.
It is by no means certain that ORAL and the National Anti-Corruption Strategy will be able to stem corruption.
Why? Because Ghana’s experience is that anti-corruption laws and regulations on their own are not enough.
What is also essential are honest, morally upright men and women who regard public service as both a privilege and a vocation – not an opportunity for private looting.
To get to grips with the problem, stakeholders must explore solutions by referencing other countries’ anti-corruption models, such as that of China, which involves significant penalties, as a key institutional reform.
The writer is an Emeritus Professor of Politics, London Metropolitan University, UK.
