Why Ghana needs a strong leader to tackle corruption

Corruption is a cancer that has eaten deep into the fabric of Ghana's society, hindering its progress and stifling its growth. It's a menace that has permeated every level of government, from the highest echelons of power to the lowest rungs of bureaucracy.

The consequences are dire: misallocated resources, embezzled funds, and a lack of accountability have led to a breakdown in trust between the government and the people.

To tackle this monster, Ghana needs a leader who is not only committed to rooting out corruption but also has the courage and conviction to take bold action. H.E. John Mahama's leadership is crucial in this regard, as he has a proven track record of taking on the corrupt elite and pushing for reforms that promote transparency and accountability.

With his leadership, Ghana can hope to create a system that is fair, just, and equitable, where the rule of law is upheld, and the corrupt are held accountable for their actions which the future of Ghana depends on.

President Mahama in his quest to fight corruption, developed a National Anti-Corruption Action Plan (NACAP for short) in 2012, which was adopted by the Parliament of Ghana following intensive consultations at the national, regional and district levels to combat corruption in Ghana. NACAP covered the control of corruption in both the public and private sector. It embraced the activities of State and non-State actors regardless of gender, age, local or international status.

A High Level Implementation Committee (HiLIC) for NACAP, chaired by the Chief of Staff, drew its membership from a cream of institutions, agencies and civil society groups comprising representatives from CHRAJ, Office of the President, Parliament of Ghana, Economic and Organised Crime Office, National Development Planning Commission, Public Services Commission, Attorney-General's Department, Africa Peer Review Mechanism (Ghana), Ministry of Finance, Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition, Ghana Integrity Initiative, Centre for Democracy and Development, Private Enterprises Federation, Development Partners and Anti-Corruption Experts and Practitioners.

Furthermore, one significant achievement of his government which is unprecedented in the history of Ghana is the fight against payroll fraud. Pragmatic measures was taken in this area of fraud and abuse of State resources through the design and implementation of effective preventive measures in the public sector financial management systems. It is heartwarming to note that this intervention yielded fruits, and a good number of "ghost names" were removed from our payroll, and huge sums of money was recovered.

With regard to the National Service Scheme investigations, the BNI and the Attorney General concluded investigations into allegations of corruption (padding of salaries or “ghost names”) and prosecutions started before he left office.

Additionally, 163 personnel of the Scheme were dismissed and over 18.5million cedis was recovered to the State, and 33 officials including the former Executive Director and his Deputy were arraigned before Court while about 130 others were to be prosecuted.

In terms of GYEEDA, a number of persons, including the former CEO, were prosecuted. And still on GYEEDA, with regard to loans illegally granted to some service providers, the State recovered an amount of GHC 20,449,368.44 in relation to the various modules from Asongtaba Cottage Industries, RLG Communications and Craft PRO Ltd.

Other high profile corruption cases, or cases of causing financial losses which were ongoing before he left office are The Republic vrs Alfred Agbesi Woyome, The Republic vrs Ben Atsu Elleblu, Robert Azumah, and Christopher Elleblu and many others.

Anthony Obeng Afrane