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In Transparency International’s 2024 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), Ghana scored 42 out of 100, ranking 80th out of 180 countries.
This was a slight decline from previous years and the country’s worst ranking in five years, indicating perceived increasing public sector corruption.
The good news is that Ghana scored higher than the Sub-Saharan African average (around 33), and the country’s score of 42 (down from a consistent 43) still places it fairly well in a region with generally low anti-corruption performance.
Why is Ghana perceived as a relatively corrupt country? It is due to pervasive petty bribery, nepotism and lack of accountability, particularly in public services, including the police, judiciary and land administration.
This stems from institutional weaknesses, relatively low salaries, poor ethical standards and a patrimonial and partisan political culture.
Corruption impacts businesses through demands for bribes to get services or licences, eroding public trust, with many citizens paying officials for basic needs.
Ethical standards and national development
To what extent is the situation due to the low ethical standards of ‘ordinary’ Ghanaians?
The new year saw renewed exhortations from society’s elite to avoid corruption and work together for national development. Daily Graphic’s first issue of 2026, published on January 6, featured the thoughts of a Christian leader, Rev. Stephen Wengam, General Superintendent of the Assemblies of God Church, Ghana, and a senior politician, Vice-President Prof. Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang.
Rev. Wengam, speaking at the Watch Night Service of Cedar Mountain Chapel in Accra to usher in the new year, stated that ‘citizens [should] be demonstrably patriotic, incorruptible and hard working to advance the cause of national development’, linking these desirable qualities to Christian values.
Rev. Wengam drew lessons from the life of the Patriarch Abraham, widely considered the spiritual ‘father of the faith’ for Christianity, as well as for Judaism and Islam, and expressed his view that adhering steadfastly to Christian values would not only effectively accelerate nation building but also ‘translate into patriotism, positive work ethics, higher productivity and a less corruptible society.’
In passing, Rev. Wengam made a dig at one-man churches preaching the prosperity gospel, bemoaning ‘the practice where Christians served God for only what they would receive without imbibing proper teachings on holy and righteous living’.
Vice-President Prof. Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang, speaking at a durbar at Ada in the Greater Accra Region to commemorate the 44th anniversary of the 31st December Revolution, stated that the ideals of the Revolution should encourage Ghanaians not merely to hope for improvement but consciously work towards making the year better through unity, discipline and service.
“We have a country to build, and everybody is part of it,” she said, urging citizens to avoid distractions and put Ghana first.
Both Rev. Wengam and Vice-President Opoku-Agyemang highlighted what they saw as many citizens’ lack of patriotism, petty corruption and failure to work hard. Surprisingly, neither mentioned Ghana’s political and business elite, where egregious, large-scale corruption is a notable feature.
President Mahama ascended to the presidency for the second time a year ago, quick to announce a new phase of the anti-corruption fight, the Operation Recover All Loot (ORAL) initiative, aiming to recover stolen state assets and hold public officials accountable. ORAL was not primarily aimed at those engaging in ‘petty’ corruption – for example, those who bribe a policeman to overlook a broken rear light on their car – but the fat cats; people who use their official positions to steal huge sums of national resources from the state and from ‘ordinary’ tax-paying citizens.
A year on, and many are frustrated by the failure so far of ORAL to name names and prosecute the guilty.
According to former Auditor-General Daniel Domelevo, the credibility of the anti-corruption fight now rests largely on how the Attorney-General handles high-profile cases submitted in the context of the ORAL investigations.
Public expectations remain high following the submission of several cases for prosecution, although delays or inaction may well encourage public scepticism about the ORAL initiative.
In other words, rather than pointing to ‘ordinary’ Ghanaians as the cause of a failure of national development, it is necessary first, meaningfully, to fight corruption at the top of society – and to succeed, this would take consistent commitment, resolve and tenacity.
The ORAL focus must be on prominent cases to send a clear signal that accountability is real. High-profile cases must be exposed and the guilty prosecuted without delay.
Public patience is wearing thin, as many Ghanaians no longer believe that corruption cases will lead to consequences.
Until the fat cats are brought to justice and ‘ordinary’ Ghanaians see that the powerful can be brought to book for high-level and egregious corruption, it is useless for members of the elite to admonish their fellow citizens for undermining national development.
Let’s hope 2026 sees the successful conclusion of the ORAL investigations.
The writer is an Emeritus Professor, London Metropolitan University, UK.
