Public Agenda (Accra)
Milton Aberinga
13 November 2009
Bolga — A Senior State Attorney, Mr. George Ofori, has stated that corrupt officials will be prosecuted only if Ghanaians are courageous enough to bring evidence against such persons to the notice of the Attorney General's Department.
According to Mr. Ofori though there is so much talk about corruption especially, among public officials in the country, much of it has remained at the gossip level thus making it difficult for the state to prosecute. He expressed regret that Ghanaians though strongly averse to corruption, have chosen to fight it with gossip as the weapon.
He was speaking at an anti-corruption training workshop in Bolgatanga in the Upper East Region. The workshop, organized by the Legal Resource Centre (LRC) was on the theme "The Role of Stakeholders in Combating Bribery, Corruption and Road Delays along the Tema-Ougadougou Trade Corridor."
The Senior State Attorney was full of lamentation that in spite of the coming into force of the Whistleblowers Act since 2006, few Ghanaians have practically demonstrated interest in it adding that the state attorneys alone were incapable of fighting corruption given its evasive nature.
He disclosed that his out fit has produced a manual entitled 'Comparative Corruption Laws in Ghana' and that the amount of resources invested in the document by government indicates its commitment to the fight corruption.
Participants at the training were taken through an anti-corruption manual prepared by the Legal Resource Centre. Madam Dzifa Gapkleazi, a legal practitioner who facilitated the workshop, disclosed that a research conducted in 2008 by the Legal Resource Centre revealed widespread corruption on the Tema-Ougadougou Trade Route.
According to the legal practitioner, data gathered in September and October, 2009 by revealed that drivers paid anywhere from GHC2 to GHC4 in bribes per stop, with CEPS officers accepting no less than GHc3.00. The Research further revealed that given the fact that on any given day the number of trucks plying the route can reach 120, it means that the total amount of bribes collected can reach GHC12, 000.00 per day, GHC84, 000 per week, GHC3336, 000 per month and GHC4, 380,000 per year.
It further indicated that each stop causes delays particularly when drivers try to bargain. It said on every journey, drivers were delayed anywhere from 5 minutes to 20 minutes per stop. In one instance, a traveler with all required documentation crossing the Ghana Border into Burkina Faso Border was required to pay GHc20 and when he offered to pay GHc15, he was detained in police custody for not less than 45 minutes while those who were unable to pay were not allowed to cross.
According to Mr. Rowland Atta-Kesson, a facilitator at the training and also a legal practitioner, the massive corruption perpetrated by our public officials is not only an indictment on our moral standing as a nation, supposedly the gateway to West Africa, but also undermines ECOWAS objectives of promoting free movement of goods and persons within the sub region.
The LRC expressed concern over the unbridled corruption at the corridor and expressed fear that it is fast becoming a norm since both the giver and the taker engage in the act without any sense of remorse. According to Atta-Kesson, while the Legal Resource Centre was deeply concerned about corruption in Ghana generally, it is particularly concerned with corruption along the Tema-Ouagdougou corridor since corrupt practices on that road defeat the very essence of our obligations under the ECOWAS Protocol.
The LRC therefore called on the Attorney - General and the Minister of Justice, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Minister of Interior and all other stakeholders to devise methods to collectively deal with those perpetrating the acts. "We need to bring meaning to the ratification of the ECOWAS Protocol and our 1992 Constitution and its provisions on the freedom of movement in Ghana", he added.
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