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Corruption in Ghana

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Even though corruption in Ghana is relatively low compared to other countries in Africa, businesses frequently quote corruption as an obstacle for doing business in the country. Corruption occurs often in locally funded contracts and companies are subject to bribes when operating in rural areas.

In a 1975 book, Victor T. Le Vine wrote that bribery, theft and embezzlement arose from reversion to a traditional winner-takes-all attitude in which power and family relationships prevailed over the rule of law. Corruption in Ghana is similar to other countries in the region. Corruption in Ghana affects, among other sectors, natural resource management. Despite government efforts to quell corruption, local elites take advantage of limited transparency and accountability to take control of community natural resources for their personal financial benefit.

Ghana is not a signatory to the OECD Convention on Combating Bribery. It has however taken steps to amend laws on public financial administration and public procurement. The public procurement law which was passed in January 2004 seeks to harmonize the many public procurement guidelines used in the country and also to bring public procurement into conformity with World Trade Organization standards. The new law aims to improve accountability, value for money, transparency and efficiency in the use of public resources.

However, some in civil society have criticized the law as inadequate. The government, in conjunction with civil society representatives, is drafting a Freedom of Information bill, which will allow greater access to public information. Notwithstanding the new procurement law, companies cannot expect complete transparency in locally funded contracts. There continue to be allegations of corruption in the tender process and the government has in the past set aside international tender awards in the name of national interest.

Business reports are asked for "favors" from contacts in Ghana, in return for facilitating business transactions. The Government of Ghana has publicly committed to ensuring that government officials do not use their positions to enrich themselves. Official salaries, however, are modest, especially for low-level government employees, and such employees have been known to ask for a "dash" (tip) in return for assisting with license and permit applications.

Areas of Corruption

Parliament

Member of parliament for the Chiana-Paga constituency, Abuga Pele was convicted in February 2018 and charged with a six-year jail term for wilfully causing a loss of GH¢4.1 million to the state of Ghana. In June 2009, Mubarak Muntaka resigned from his position as Minister of Youth and Sports on the orders of President John Evans Attah Mills following investigations into dozens of allegations levelled against him including financial malpractice and abuse of power. Ghana's Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice asked Mubarak Muntaka to refund misappropriated funds.

The Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice was petitioned by a pressure group in September 2009 to investigate Mahama Ayariga for acquiring 5 subsidized tractors from the Ministry of Agriculture that were meant to support underprivileged farmers in rural communities. The Appointments Committee of Parliament initially suspended his approval of becoming a minister pending investigations, which cleared him afterwards. Mahama Ayariga claimed that his application to acquire the tractors "was approved" and he was unaware that there was an "affordable arrangements" scheme associated with purchasing the tractors. The investigation was reopened in July 2017 when a different political party formed a new government.

Medicine

In 2017, the then deputy minister of health, Kingsley Aboagye Gyedu, asserted that Ghana's health sector had high corruption rates because of its low level of accountability. For example, doctors at the Tamale Teaching Hospital plant agents to direct patients from the hospital to their clinics and direct patients to procure drugs and lab tests outside the hospital thus reducing hospital revenue. They go into agreement with these pharmacies and labs so they profit from the referrals. Ghana's health sector was ranked second most corrupt in Africa, with most of the allocated public resources ending up in the pockets of corrupt private individuals.

The worst affected people are the poor individuals who are not sensitised to medical practices in the hospital. Medical practitioners end up selling watered-down medicines and even request bribes to allow patients to jump queues. In Koforidua in the eastern region of Ghana, a combined team of US and Ghanaian medical professionals were supposed to undertake "Operation Walk Syracuse", a surgical procedure for some selected arthritis patients. It was revealed that some of the local professionals in St. Joseph's Hospital had charged prospective patients sums of money ranging from GHC100.00 to GHC6,000.00 to allow them access to the procedure. Meanwhile, this was on the blind side of the US team.

Public institutions

The Auditor-General reported financial irregularities by some public officials in a 2023 report: funds had been improperly disbursed to Ghanaian public institutions such as the National Service Authority. The Auditor-General’s Recovery Account was set up in June 2022 to receive funds clawed back by the government from these disbursements. By February 2026, GHC57.2 million had been deposited to the Recovery Account but almost five times that amount, more than GHC280 million, had not yet been repaid because the laws requiring repayment were not being enforced.

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