Corruption In Ghana Research Articles

Unveiling the power of Social Studies in combating corruption: Tertiary students’ perspectives

This study employed a qualitative approach to examine tertiary students’ perspectives on leveraging Social Studies in the fight against corruption in Ghana. A purposive sampling technique was used to select 21 students from a distance training institution. Some of the variables investigated were causes of corruption and the extent to which students perceived Social Studies as a potential force to combat corruption. The semi-structured interview guide was used to collect data from research participants while thematic analysis was adopted. Data from the study revealed that corruption in Ghana is caused by factors such as weak institutions, greed, poverty-related issues and cultural practices. The results also indicated that Social Studies could significantly help curb corruption. Beside Social Studies, other measures including strengthening institutions, meting out severe punishment to culprits and moral education can also reduce corruption. It was, therefore, recommended that the Ministry of Education through the Ghana Education Service should retool the Social Studies subject, and make it compulsory at all levels of education since it has the potential to reduce corruption.

Fighting Public Sector Corruption: A Review of the Legal Framework in Ghana

Public sector corruption has been a menace to the development of Ghana. Corruption in Ghana seems to be growing with each passing year. Many citizens are struggling to understand why the country cannot overcome this menace. The rule of law is essential in combating corruption. In this paper, a review of the legal framework for fighting corruption is undertaken with the aim of identifying and suggesting ways of improving the ways of fighting corruption in Ghana. From the review, it is suggested that courts must carefully balance the rights of the accused against the wider public interest and that we must have an independent, impartial, and effective judiciary because it is the cornerstone of accountable government.

Examining the linkages between digitalisation, public service delivery and corruption in Ghana

Purpose This study aims to examine the linkages between digitalisation, public service delivery and corruption in Ghana using survey data from 121 respondents in Ghana. The authors also examine the mediating role public service delivery offers on corruption. Design/methodology/approach This study relied on the capability theory as its theoretical lens and partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) as the data analysis technique. Findings Results from the PLS-SEM analysis show that public service delivery significantly reduces corruption, whilst digitalisation does not. However, public service delivery significantly mediated the relationship between digitalisation and corruption. Research limitations/implications This study’s limitation is that the data was collected from Ghana only. To enhance the generalisability of findings, future research could collect data from multiple countries. In addition, the study did not factor in the moderating effects of demographic variables such as information and communication technology (ICT) literacy. Future research could consider these variables, given the low ICT literacy level of individuals in developing countries. Finally, future researchers could triangulate results with interviews and focus groups to provide more value to the identified questionnaire-based data. Practical implications The findings of this study highlight the need for digitalisation to be included in Ghana’s national policy objectives and service delivery objectives. It is essential for the government to ensure broader public engagement with stakeholders, including citizens, to ensure that digitalisation goals are achieved. The study’s results indicate that digitalisation does not significantly influence corruption. This calls for the government of Ghana to consider raising the level of human capital for the successful planning and deployment of e-services. This includes raising citizen ICT literacy and adopting cutting-edge technology to fully realize the benefits of online services. Developing capabilities, e-government leadership, and public sector employees as enablers of online public services should go hand-in-hand. It is also important to build connected capacities in the country and enhance access to information and technology, along with increasing digital infrastructure. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to examine and offer a dual perspective on the role of digitalisation on public service delivery and corruption whilst considering the mediating role public service delivery offers on corruption.

The Role of E-Government, Political Will & Accountability in Reducing Corruption in Ghana

The Role of E-Government, Political Will & Accountability in Reducing Corruption in Ghana

Should I Accept or Refute? Understanding the Socio-Organizational Factors Influencing Corruption in Ghana’s Public Service

Corruption remains endemic despite intensified global anti-corruption efforts, indicating a need to reassess current strategies. This study focused on how context-specific socio-organizational factors influence employees’ engagement in corrupt activities in Ghana’s public service. The sample for the study consists of 48 public service workers. This includes 26 middle-level management staff who participated in the focus group discussions and 22 directors who were interviewed individually. Additionally, 8 expert interviews were conducted to enhance comprehension and discussion of the findings. Key socio-organizational factors, including “opportunistic staffing,” “reciprocal appreciation,” “praise singing,” and “order from above” were identified. Formal rules and sanctions alone were found to be inadequate in addressing corruption due to the complex contextual nature of the socio-organizational factors. These factors could serve as a foundation for designing training programs and nudges that promote ethical behavior. Moreover, they offer valuable insights for developing anti-corruption interventions that align with the practical realities of ethical decision-making in Ghana’s public service.

Public procurement accounting as a tool to end corruption in Ghana: Forensic Accounting Perspective

This study's goal was to show how, by applying natural principles to human laws, forensic accounting might be utilized as a tactic to combat corruption in public procurement. Ten public universities in Ghana were selected for the survey, and in 2023 it examined views regarding policy fairness, government performance, and deterrent. 109 questionnaires were distributed to the procurement officers of the selected institutions using a simple random sampling. The collected data were subjected to a multiple linear regression analysis using the Smart PLS software. The study concluded that forensic accounting was ineffective in stopping procurement misconduct. It also discovered that there is currently very little usage of forensic accounting by the government. Governments at all levels ought to be more interested in forensic accounting and accountants, the report suggests, in order to keep an eye on and look into fraud cases that have been shown to be fraudulent. The management of the procurement authority needs to improve the criminology training provided to accountants and auditors. This training should concentrate on topics such as the nature and extent of financial crimes, ethical concerns, investigation, and remediation. This is necessary if forensic science is to be utilized as the primary tool for corruption and fraud prevention. The administration must also give careful consideration to the impartiality, independence, and reason of the courts.

FIGHT AGAINST CORRUPTION: COULD MORALITY LEAD THE WAY?

Since time immemorial, almost all human societies and institutions have and still continue to suffer issues of corruption in one way or another. This makes the issue of corruption a global problem. The issue of corruption has garnered lots of attention over the years since it seems to be practically inevitable. It is one issue that most societies and institutions have tried to in so many ways to curb; however, it keeps rearing its ugly head. It is in this vein that this paper aims to find out if morality could help us in the fight against corruption. The paper also aims to find out if there is a way whereby corruption could be justified. Thus, the paper is organized into three parts. The first part is the introduction which generally introduces the paper. The second part deals with corruption in Ghana. The third part tries to find out if corruption can be justified by juxtaposing it with some moral theories. Finally comes some recommendations and conclusion.

Corruption under a microscope, a Ghana perspective

Corruption is a global issue and a challenge in Ghana, however in the last few years, it has taken over aspects of the Ghanaian society, from government, public and private sectors, and creating a negative impact on all governance arrangement and performance in Ghana. The prevalence of corruption points to a humongous dishonesty in the Ghanaian society. Some causes of corruption in Ghana are political monetization, low level of literacy, non-enforcement of relevant laws, bureaucracy, and fusing of duties among the arms of governance. Corruption retards economic development and growth, moral degeneration, reduces confidence in government Institutions, Product and poor execution of government projects and contracts. “Perceived” corruption by religious leaders has adversely affected people’s faith in God. Progressively, successive governments have tried to tackle corruption by the introduction of legislation; attempted selective prosecution of persons culpable of corruption; digitizing services, to reduce the interface of humans in service delivery mechanism, but all these have had limited success due to political interferences and selectivity of application. The watchful eyes of Civil and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and world bodies such as the World Bank, United Nations, and Transparency International have all helped in minimizing the impact of corruption to various degrees. The decision to fight corruption is an exceptional one justified by exceptional circumstances. Ghanaians need to make disciplined efforts to produce fundamental decisions that shape and guide how and what they do to fight corruption. Reports from government, NGOs and international bodies were searched and selected according to their relevance to the subject under study and analysed to write this paper. The objective of this paper is therefore to make an exhaustive analysis of corruption in Ghana.

‘Judicialization of corruption’ in Ghana: an analysis of how Ghanaians view the Office of the Special Prosecutor

ABSTRACT Anti-corruption agencies in Ghana have failed over the years to deal with corruption and also take decisive steps in tackling the menace. For this reason inter alia, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government in 2018 established the Office of the Special Prosecutor as an institutional response to deal assertively with the issue of corruption. This action expanded the scope and discourse on the fight against corruption in Ghana. Following from this, the paper conceptualised the new institutional endeavour to control corruption in Ghana, simply as the ‘judicialization of corruption’. By judicialization of corruption, the paper meant to portray a phenomenon where there is the use of judiciary and judicial processes in fighting corruption. Coming on the back of a political campaign promise, the paper seemly tested Ghanaian voters’ view on this new anti-corruption arrangement by the government and puts forward a broad-spectrum of views by voters regarding the creation of the OSP. The paper used mixed method to triangulate both qualitative and quantitative data. The result showed majority of voters backing government's idea to create the OSP albeit a sizeable number perceiving the OSP as a mere conduit to ‘witch-hunt’ erstwhile government officials.

“We are only to Appear to be Fighting Corruption…We can’t even Bite”: online memetic anti-corruption discourse in the Ghanaian media

Abstract Purpose The goal of this study is to explore how memes are used as tools to expose and shame corruption in Ghana. The Ghanaian media has used memes to criticize unhealthy governmental and social practices and advocated for alternative approaches to addressing these issues. Thus, we explore the qualities memes possess in contributing to the anti-corruption discourse in Ghana. Methods Using visual rhetoric and metaphorical analysis of five media memes purposively collected from the Facebook page of Tilapia Da Cartoonist of TV3, this study discusses the approaches memes employ to ridicule and humorize the fight against corruption in Ghana and suggests remediations for governmental corruption. Results We find that memes play crucial anti-corruption roles. As such, they criticize corruption by showing the impact of corruption on the average citizen. Memes reveal the suppression of anti-corruption agents and agencies and the lack of real commitment to the fight against corruption in Ghana. While memes expose and criticize corruption, they also provide utilitarian approaches to addressing corruption. Central to this study, the research finds that humor is a basic feature of memes. However, within the Ghanaian media context, the humor in a meme does not affect the seriousness of the message a meme conveys. Practical implications Memes can be used strategically as an advocacy tool and a good complement to daily news reports. Social implications Media memes could be used as active media tools to produce, reproduce, distribute, and enhance complex socio-political narratives in society. This may have social and political implications for society. Originality This is the first study to explore memes as an anti-corruption media text. It is also the first study to examine the impact of humor on the message a meme conveys. This is done through a qualitative interpretation of the memes. Limitations and recommendations are provided.

Monetization of politics and public procurement in Ghana

PurposeThis paper aims to investigate the prevalence of corruption in Ghana to understand how and why it has turned public procurement into a mere money-making scheme instead of a means to provide needed public goods and services.Design/methodology/approachThe study focuses on Ghana as a case study and mobilizes the monetization of politics lenses. Data are collected via interviews with key officials across the procurement sector (including the government, donors and civil society), documents, documentaries and news articles.FindingsThe findings suggest that the increasing costs of elections and political financing coupled with the costs of vote-buying, which has become informally institutionalized, intensify corruption practices and, consequently, turns public procurement into a mere source of cash for political ends. Political appointments and legalized loopholes facilitate this by helping to nullify the safeguard accounting and other control institutions are designed to provide. Likewise, enduring poverty and rising inequality “force” citizens into a vote-buying culture which distorts democratic premises that may drive out unscrupulous politicians; thus, perpetuating capture schemes. Civil society's efforts to remedy these have had little success, and corruption and inequality remain rife.Practical implicationsThe main practical implication of the study lies in the need for a gradual demonetization of elections, and the consideration of the fundamental function of public procurement as a policy instrument embedded in economic, social, cultural and environmental plans. Additionally, given the connectedness of the various corruption issues raised, a comprehensive system-based approach in dealing with them would be more effective than a piecemeal approach targeting each issue/problem in isolation.Originality/valueWhile extant literature has examined the issue of endemic corruption in developing countries using state capture, few have attempted to explain why it remains enduring, particularly in public procurement. This study, therefore, contributes to the literature on corruption and state capture theoretically and empirically by drawing on monetization of politics from political science to explain why corruption and state capture endure in certain contexts (with Ghana as an illustrative example) which reduce public procurement to a cash-milking scheme.

Does democracy fuel corruption in developing countries? Understanding Ghanaians’ perspectives

ABSTRACT Whether democratic governance breeds corruption, especially in developing countries that practice democracy, is highly debatable. Using primary data from interviews and relevant secondary data from media reports and scholarly work, this article aims to address a fundamental question: Does democracy fuel corruption in Ghana’s Fourth Republic? Although 20% of participants believed that democracy breeds corruption, about 80% disagreed. The study indicates that democracy does not necessarily bring about corruption; rather, what fuels corruption is how democracy is practiced. Based on the stage/age of democracy thesis, this study does not suggest less corruption in a dictatorship compared to democracy. Instead, the study indicates that despite its democracy being over 29 years old, corruption is still prevalent because Ghana has a flawed democracy that has failed to establish and implement robust accountability mechanisms to control corruption effectively. The theoretical and policy implication is to avoid a lengthy period of the flawed/electoral democracy phase and move to the mature democracy phase by, for example, ensuring a sustained political commitment to combatting corruption and strengthening the rule of law and accountability institutions such as the judiciary. This study extends the theoretical and empirical understanding of the relationship between democracy and corruption.

Special prosecutor: Panacea or facade to institutionalised corruption in Ghana?

Special prosecutor: Panacea or facade to institutionalised corruption in Ghana?

An Exploratory Study of Police Corruption in Ghana: Why Does it Exist?

A culture of corruption within an institution, such as the police, could be indicative of a failure from various directions. The Ghanaian public often views the police service as the most corrupt of all their institutions. This paper aims to explore the issue of street-level police corruption and why it exists from the perspective of police officers, delving into their understandings, critiques, and explanations of this phenomenon. Based on qualitative interviews with Ghanaian police officers, this article reveals two factors that characterise street-level police corruption in Ghana. First, corrupt practices may be instigated by members of the public (e.g. through bribes) without any pressure from the police themselves. Second, police officers adopt various neutralisation techniques to rationalise their involvement in corruption. This article examines how police officers interviewed for this study normalised corruption to gain a better understanding of the prevalent nature of police corruption in Ghana.

English

Knowledge and perception of policing and police corruption in most developing societies, including Ghana, seem to reflect through the media. Yet, of course, police corruption is an old and multifaceted issue. In Ghana, it can be argued that it has historical roots extending to the period when professional policing was first introduced during the colonial era -1831. Police forces established during British colonial rule in most countries, including Ghana, Nigeria, and India, are perceived to be incredibly corrupt, violent, and exploitative. Contemporary policing in sub-Saharan Africa is a colonial legacy and in that capacity imperialism and its legacies have foreordained the nature and styles of policing, functions, structures, and accountability in the post-colonial period. As such, chronic corruption within the Ghanaian police service can be linked to the legacy of the British colonial authorities. The aim is to present the social and cultural context for understanding police corruption in Ghana. This paper examines a body of literature and explores various forms of social control, particularly, policing and argues that the existence and the practices of police corruption in contemporary Ghanaian society have a significant element of colonialism as the primary influential factor.   Key words: Policing, colonial police, police corruption, and colonial rule.

Corruption in Ghana: A Historical Perspective Under the 4th Republic (1992-2020).

Irrefutably, corruption is a long-standing phenomenon that derives its name from the Latin verb 'corrumpere,' which signifies 'to damage or spoil.' This implies that wherever there is corruption, devastation occurs. It is virtually usually provided under the guise of figurative languages and euphemisms because of its nature. For example, in Swahil contexts, corruption means "something modest" in Iran, "money for koko or water" in Ghana, or "advise yourself" and "something for the guys" in Swahil contexts.People who engage in corruption are implicitly aware of the unlawful consequences, but they utilise these euphemisms to hide, minimise, and make corrupt conduct socially acceptable (Ree, 2015). The misuse or abuse of entrusted power for private gain has been defined as corruption. In addition, systemic, individualised, grand, and minor corruptions are all distinguished.Corruption's harmful effects on Ghana, West Africa, the African continent, and the rest of the world cannot be overstated. Furthermore, Ghana's several subsequent democratically elected governments have all had their fair share of corruption. As a result, this paper examines corruption in Ghana from a historical perspective, with a focus on the period after Ghana's independence as the 4th Republic (1992-2020).Thus, thematic areas such as the analysis of each political era for the period between 1992 - 2000, the late former president Jerry John Rawlings, former President John Agyekum Kuffour for the period between 2001-2008, the late President John Evans Attah Mills for the period between 2009 - July 2011, and John Dramani Mahama for the period between July 2011 and 2016 as well as the first term of the current government which is between 2017-2020. Nonetheless, the ardent debate of this paper centered on the corruption in Ghana consideringthe historical perspective under the 4 th Republic (1992-2020). Keywords : Corruption, Ghana DOI: 10.7176/RJFA/13-12-02 Publication date: June 30 th 2022

How Can the Private Media Be Strengthened to Investigate and Expose Corruption in Ghana? Understanding Ghanaian Perspectives

ABSTRACT The media are often considered an essential player in the fight against corruption. As part of the measures to combat corruption, it is essential to understand how to make the media play a critical watchdog role in sub-Saharan Africa. Using Hallin and Mancini’s work on media systems and data from in-depth semi-structured interviews, the following question is addressed: How can the Ghanaian private media be strengthened to investigate and expose corruption? The findings show the need to establish an investigative journalism fund, address political parallelism, improve journalistic professionalism, and ensure favourable state interventions. The implications these findings have for policy are presented in the conclusion. This article contributes to the theoretical, empirical, and policy debates on strengthening the media to be an active, critical watchdog in fighting corruption.

Partisan alignment and political corruption: Evidence from a new democracy

I analyze the link between partisan alignment of local politicians and the incidence of political corruption, using novel hand-collected data on local political corruption in Ghana. The empirical analysis, based on 205 districts observed over the period 2013–2018, suggests significantly lower levels of political corruption in aligned districts. Partisan alignment reduces corruption by 1.9 percentage points, equivalent to about half of the mean-level in non-aligned districts. In line with political ambition theory, I attribute this result to local politicians aligned with the national government having incentives to control fiscal irregularities within their localities in order to appease their national party leaders and preserve their party’s reputation. Alternative explanations are considered through empirical means and can be excluded. The estimated effect is more pronounced in districts that (i) are party strongholds, (ii) have better financial endowments, and (iii) have female local parliamentarians. It appears that political centralization and a politicized bureaucracy, as observed in Ghana, are important explanations for this finding.

Religious Functionalism: An Influential Tool for Harnessing Corruption in Ghana

One of the most influential and ever-expanding dimensions of almost every African society is religion. Every function political, legal, or economic, is intertwined with the ingredients of religion. In Ghana, it is socially, politically, and legally offensive to separate religion from communal exhibitions and, restrict it from individual performance. Amid the widely spread commitment to different religions by public officials, the reality of corruption alongside its destructive nature still infringes on the public administrative efficiency in Ghana. With regards to this submission, one question worth asking is, can religion, owing to its measurability, be operable in curbing corruption in a notoriously religious and corruption-spotted country like Ghana? In finding a response to this question, this paper argued that religious functionalism can be used as a practical tool in the fight against corruption in Ghana. Religious functionalism in its definitional postulation refers to activities that promote social integration, adhesive group formation, and social control that foster a moral framework that contributes to the development of a society. To achieve its objective and arrive at workable recommendations, the paper relied on library materials—drawing contents from the research papers relating to the subject matter. The paper recommended that in order to fight corruption in Ghana the functional dimensions of Christianity, Islam and African Traditional Religion should be emphasized. Specifically, the adherents of these religions owe a responsibility to their religious moral frameworks. If the Ghanaian society is ‘notoriously’ religious, it follows that religious functionalism is indispensable in the fight against corruption. Keywords: Functionalism, Corruption, Religion, Development.

What Can Be Done to Address Corruption in Ghana? Understanding Citizens’ Perspectives

Corruption poses a substantial danger to human rights, political stability, and development, particularly in developing countries like Ghana. Despite the supposed fight against corruption in most developing countries, including Ghana, little success has been achieved in arresting the problem. This article's objective is to examine what can be done to address Ghana's corruption. Based on primary data from in-depth interviews with Ghanaians, the article focuses on a key question: What can be done to address corruption in Ghana? The findings indicate that unless corruption offences become high-risk crimes through strict implementation of laws to punish offenders regardless of their identities, power, or wealth, the Ghanaian anti-corruption work will likely be a lost battle. The study also shows the need for state anti-corruption agencies to be well-resourced and de-politicized to function independently. This article makes useful contributions to the literature on corruption by investigating and documenting citizens’ perspectives, which can inform anti-corruption policies and practices.