Bribery on the rise in Ghana: GSS Governance Series, Wave 3, exposes deepening corruption pressure

The proportion of Ghanaians paying bribes to access public services climbed sharply in the second half of 2025, according to the latest Governance Series report released by the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS), signaling a reversal after months of improvement.

Bribery incidence climbs
The Governance Series Wave 3, launched in Accra on Tuesday, August 4, 2026, found that 18.0 per cent of household heads who interacted with public officials between July and December 2025 admitted paying money or giving gifts to secure a service up from 14.3 per cent in the first half of the year. That translates into roughly 1.7 million Ghanaians paying bribes in the second half of the year, compared with 1.3 million in the first half, even as the number of citizens who had any contact with public officials actually fell, from 6.8 million to 6.4 million.

Demands from officials driving the spike
Government Statistician Dr Alhassan Iddrisu told the launch that the deterioration was driven far more by demands from officials than by citizens volunteering payments. The share of bribery encounters in which a public official directly requested an unofficial payment jumped from 50.9 per cent in Wave 2 to 69.4 per cent in Wave 3 meaning nearly seven in ten Ghanaians who ran into bribery were explicitly asked for extra money.

"The problem now is less what citizen’s offer and more what officials would ask," Dr Iddrisu said, noting that the pressure has shifted decisively to the counter.
There was a modest silver lining: the proportion of citizens who refused to pay when asked rose from 3.0 per cent to 4.9 per cent, and one-time bribe payments increased from 38.8 per cent to 70.8 per cent, suggesting bribery is becoming more episodic than a pattern of repeated extraction.

Police MTTD tops the list
The survey again singled out the police as the epicenter of everyday bribery, with the Motor Traffic and Transport Department (MTTD) topping the chart at 54.6 per cent of respondents reporting a payment, followed by Police General Duties (37.4%), the Criminal Investigation Department (29.5%), GHAPOHA officials (26.2%), and the Traffic Management Authority/City Guard (24.8%). The Ghana Immigration Service, Births and Deaths Registry, DVLA, Passport Office and embassies/consulates rounded out the top ten.

At the other end, institutions including the Narcotics Control Commission, the National Commission for Civic Education, the Minerals Commission and CHRAJ recorded no reports of bribery, while the Electoral Commission (1.3%) and Ministry of Health (1.1%) also scored low.

Two true stories at once
Despite the second-half slide, Dr Iddrisu stressed that Ghana's full-year 2025 governance performance still improved on 2024. Comparing full years, contact with public officials rose from 55.7 per cent to 71.9 per cent, yet the share of citizens reporting bribery fell from 18.4 per cent to 16.8 per cent, and high-value bribes above GH¢1,000 nearly halved, from 14.7 per cent to 7. Per cent.

"The full year, which is 2025, got better compared to 2024. Both of these stories are true, and that's the beauty of the six-monthly survey that we do," he explained, noting the panel tracks the same nationally representative households across all 16 regions.

What the data recommends
Money remained the dominant form of payment, accounting for 94.8 per cent of bribes in Wave 3, though the giving of valuables such as land or goods roughly doubled over the year. Dr Iddrisu pointed to digitizing service delivery to remove official discretion, protecting citizens who refuse to pay, strengthening credible reporting channels, and widening civic participation as priorities going forward.

The Governance Series is conducted under Ghana's monitoring framework for SDG 16 indicators, with support from the African Centre for Parliamentary Affairs, CHRAJ, the Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition, Transparency International Ghana and the PAIRed Programme, and funding from the Hewlett Foundation. Wave 3 data was collected between February 26 and March 24, 2026, via Computer-Assisted Telephone Interviewing.

Mustapha Bature Sallama.
Medical/ Science Communicator,
Private Investigator, Criminal investigation and Intelligence Analysis.
International Conflict Management and Peace Building.USIP
mustysallama@gmail.com
+233-555-275-880

References
Ghanaian Times, "Bribery rate rises to 18% in second half of 2025 GSS," https://ghanaiantimes.com.gh/bribery-rate-rises-to-18-in-second-half-of-2025-gss/

Graphic Online, "Police MTTD tops bribe chart as GSS data shows corruption pressures rising," https://www.graphic.com.gh/news/general-news/police-mttd-tops-bribe-chart-as-gss-data-shows-corruption-pressures-rising.html
Adomonline.com,

"Bribery requests surge in Ghana as 69% of citizens report demands for extra payments GSS," https://www.adomonline.com/bribery-requests-surge-in-ghana-as-69-of-citizens-report-demands-for-extra-payments-gss/

Asaase Radio, "Bribery rate falls overall but direct demands by officials rise GSS," https://asaaseradio.com/bribery-rate-falls-overall-but-direct-demands-by-officials-rise-gss/

Citi Newsroom, "Bribe payments increased to 18% in late 2025 GSS," https://www.citinewsroom.com/2026/08/bribe-payments-increased-to-18-in-late-2025-gss/

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