Three foreign missions concerned about Akufo-Addo gov’t anti-corruption fight
Three foreign missions in Ghana have advised the Akufo-Addo-led New Patriotic Party (NPP) government to immediately tackle the high level of corruption or risk losing foreign investments from their countries to Ghana.
This came to light at a Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII) forum dubbed: “Cost of corruption in Ghana – deliberations for remedy”, where diplomats from the United States (US), United Kingdom (UK) and Holland raised concerns about the widespread graft in Ghana.
UK High Commissioner to Ghana, Iain Walker, noted that corruption seems to have “absolute consensus” and described it as “bad for democracy”. He further revealed that “in the many conversions I have, what I hear is that this is something that needs to be much more fervently tackled.”
Supporting his comments was U.S. Ambassador to Ghana, Stephanie Sullivan, who was quick to observe that: “Corruption is not a victimless crime, it actually involves stealing directly from people. Globally, corruption cost 5% of GDP, it increases the cost of doing business and reduces investment in countries perceived to be generally corrupt”.
She explained that under the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, American companies are not permitted “to engage in bribery and corruption under penalty of our laws which are vigorously enforced”.
She continued: “West Africa loses 1.95 billion US dollars each year in the illicit trading in fisheries and other marine resources alone. On top of that, illegal mining, logging and wildlife trafficking cause nations and citizens even more.
“As we discuss this in small groups following this encounter, we ask Ghanaians not to admire the problem but to deliberate on what is working well, what can be strengthened and how and what additional actionable measures can be put in place going forward,” she admonished.
Backing the calls for tougher anti-corruption reforms was Ambassador of the Kingdom of Netherlands to Ghana, Ron Strikker, who was emphatic that:
“We have Dutch investors, we have Dutch companies that want to do business here in Ghana and we know what the effect of corruption is. It is very negative. You can organise 10 GIPC trips to the Netherlands to promote investment and trade in Ghana but if those companies hear about the corrupt practices going on in a particular then they simply will not come or at least they will be very reluctant to do so.”
More than half of Ghanaians have said the level of corruption in the country has increased and the government is doing a poor job at fighting it in a new Afrobarometer survey released recently.
Ghana ranks 78th out of 180 countries on Transparency International’s 2018 Corruption Perceptions Index, three places below its 2017 position despite efforts such as the introduction of a Special Prosecutor to fight corruption.