The Transparency International (TI) 2016 report released in Accra said Ghana was ranked 76 out of 176 countries included in the index.

It is the lowest in Ghana’s CPI scores since 2012, when CPI scores became comparable.

Launch

The Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII), the local Chapter of TI, launched the report on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show.

“The  Corruption Perception Index  2016 scored Ghana 43 points out of a possible clean score of 100 and ranked the country 70 out of 176 countries included in this year’s index,” a press release issued after the launch said.

It said the CPI 2016 used nine out of the 13 data sources of independent institutions with a high level of credibility to compute the index for Ghana.

The release added that the sources and the corresponding scores included the World Bank Country Policy and Institutional Assessment, African Development Bank, Bertelsmann Foundation Transformation, World Economic Forum and World Justice Project.

The rest were the Economic Intelligence Unit, Political Risk Service International Country Risk Guide, Varieties of Democracy and Global Insight.

The latest report, therefore, indicates that Ghana’s performance has dropped by four percentage points from its 2015 score of 47 points.

Recommendations

The GII recommended a “deep-rooted systematic reform that would include empowering citizens to stop the widespread impunity for corruption, hold the powerful to account and have a say in the decisions that affect their daily lives.”

It also called for commitment from political and institutional leadership to fight corruption by strengthening anti-corruption legislation, passage of the Right to Information (RTI) law and the Public Officers’ Code of Conduct.

The GII also reminded the government of its promise to establish a Special Prosecutor’s Office to facilitate the prosecution of alleged corrupt public officials.

Implementation

Later in an interview, the Deputy Commissioner at the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), Rev. Richard Quayson, said the implementation of activities under the country’s anti-corruption plans would lay the foundation for controlling corruption in the country.

He said comprehensive measures, as contained in the National Anti-Corruption Action Plan (NACAP) adopted by Members of Parliament in 2014, were needed to deal with the canker.

“We need to fight corruption comprehensively by effectively pursuing key activities under the NACAP to lay a strong foundation for controlling corruption,” he said.

Mr Quayson further stated that “currently, citizens feel that political office is a short cut to making wealth, while politicians are not demonstrating their aversion to the vice.”