Ghanaians must come together to fight corruption – Tiwaa Addo-Danquah

Maame Tiwa Addo-Danquah, the Executive Director of the Economic and Organized Crime Office (EOCO), is advocating for a unified effort to combat corruption in the country.

Addressing the issue, the EOCO boss emphasized the need for a shift in the mindset of Ghanaians to effectively tackle corruption.

In an interview, she expressed concern about the pervasive nature of corruption and called on every citizen to play a role in the fight against this societal menace.

“Every Ghanaian is concerned, you are concerned I am also concerned. Everybody should be concerned. We must all put our hands together and we must fight what is fighting us. If we need to fight it then everybody must fight it.”

Meanwhile, the Special Prosecutor, Kissi Agyebeng, has expressed disappointment in Ghana’s stagnated position on the Corruption Perception Index (CPI), highlighting the country’s lack of progress in the fight against corruption.

Ghana attained a score of 43 out of a possible 100, securing the 70th position out of 180 countries and territories in the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) 2023, released by Transparency International (TI) on Tuesday, January 30, 2024.

This marks the fourth consecutive year of stagnation in Ghana’s anti-corruption efforts, according to the CPI. Four out of six Sub-Saharan African countries that maintained a stagnant score for four or more consecutive years experienced a subsequent decline in their CPI score the following year, representing a concerning trend.

In response to the CPI findings, Special Prosecutor Kissi Agyebeng expressed his disappointment, stating, “We are standing at a single spot spinning around slowly on one foot in a circle, much like a gyroscope, the conversation is becoming sterile.

“The fight against corruption is proving to be an unruly bride indeed…we are not recording much success and progress is hampered, and we are unable to move the needle appreciably to improve our scorecard.”

He highlighted the awareness of the solution to address corruption but emphasized a lack of commitment to implementing effective measures.

Agyebeng lamented, “We certainly know the cure to the malaise but we are unwilling to take the medication fully, it is as if we don’t want to actually cure it though we reckon it is slowly killing us. it is as if we do not know what we want.”

The Chief of Staff Akosua Frema Osei-Opare called on civil society organizations (CSOs) to trust anti-graft bodies. She urged CSOs to refrain from harbouring suspicions once anti-graft bodies have exonerated individuals under investigation for alleged misconduct.

Osei-Opare made these remarks during a roundtable discussion on the Corruption Perception Index 2023, where Ghana scored 43 out of a clean score of 100.

The discussion aimed to address the challenges and perceptions surrounding corruption in the country.

Source: CNR