The 2024 global Corruption Perception Index (CPI) has scored Ghana 42 out of a clean score of 100, a slight decline from the score of 43 in 2023.
The latest ranking was contained in a press release on February 11 by the Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII), the local chapter of Transparency International.
This new score when compared to the 2023 signals a setback in the country’s anti-corruption efforts. It also puts Ghana on 80th position out of 180 countries in terms of ranking.
According to the report, “Ghana has scored 42 out of a clean score of 100 in the CPI 2024, ranking 80th out of 180 countries and territories assessed in this year’s report released by Transparency International (TI). This marks a decline from Ghana’s score of 43 in 2023, signaling a setback in the country’s anti- corruption efforts.”
The GII noted that since 2015, Ghana has experienced a decline in the CPI score, dropping five points.
The trend, as illustrated in Transparency International’s data, suggests that despite the implementation of various policy interventions and institutional reforms, the country continues to face significant challenges in effectively tackling corruption.
“Since 2015 (a 10-year trend as depicted in Chart 1), Ghana has dropped 5 points on the CPI, reflecting persistent challenges in tackling corruption despite various policy interventions and institutional reforms. The decline suggests that the policy, legal and administrative reforms require further review and strengthening.”
In light of the worrying trend, GII has proposed some seven recommendations to effectively help with the fight against corruption.
GII recommended that “Parliament should enhance its financial oversight responsibilities by empowering the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) with enforcement authority and establish the Budget and Fiscal Analysis Department (BFAD). This will enhance fiscal discipline and prevent the mismanagement of public funds.”
It is also calling on the judiciary to “establish a specialised anti-corruption court to handle corruption-related cases with speed and efficiency like in the case of Tanzania” and also urged the executive to “prioritise the passage of the Conduct of Public Officers’ Bill to strengthen the legal framework on asset declaration, conflict of interest, and sanctions for non-compliance.”
The GII wants the enactment of conduct of public officers’ and Internal Audit Agency Bills; “the Executive should prioritise the passage of the Conduct of Public Officers’ Bill to strengthen the legal framework on asset declaration, conflict of interest, and sanctions for non-compliance. The Executive should also prioritise the passage of the Internal Audit Agency Bill to empower the agency to conduct lifestyle audits to address corruption related matters on unexplained wealth.”
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