New wine in new wine skins: the anti-corruption framework of Ghana

Abstract

In a February 2014 State of the Nation address, Ghana’s President John Dramani Mahama stated, ‘Corruption erodes national resources and deprives government of the capacity to invest in our people … We will fight this battle on two fronts: Firstly, to put in place the measures to prevent corruption, and secondly, to pursue and punish corruption wherever it occurs … We have the courage to investigate and expose corruption.’ As Ghana’s oil and gas industry grows, the topic of anti-corruption, transparency, and ethics has become even more prevalent. This is because of not only the examples from regional counterparts that have suffered the ‘resource curse’, but also because Ghana has learned its own lessons, dealing for years with other resources like gold. This article addresses the anti-corruption framework of Ghana by the components of national laws and institutions established to specifically ensure anti-corruption, transparency and ethics, and provides some recent measurements of Ghana’s related performance. The conclusion is that Ghana is in a seasonable position to successfully conduct a responsible and transparent petroleum sector that offers maximum good to all, however, enforcement of the law and political will are simply prerequisite.