The former advisor on Governance and Corruption to ex-President John Dramani Mahama, Daniel Batidam, has chastised the Akufo-Addo’s government for doing nothing to fight corruption.
This follows Ghana’s worse performance in the last six years in its fight against corruption, the latest corruption perception index (CPI), has revealed.
Daniel Batidam, who has worked with the global anti-corruption organization, Transparency International (TI) observed that the Akufo-Addo government, has not done much to its credit when it comes to the fight against corruption.
“I am worried that after years of steady progress which took us from as low as 38percent in 2009 to 48 percent in 2014, we are sliding backwards again…virtually, nothing has happened in the area of fighting corruption when the NPP came into power”, Mr. Batidam lamented.
His comment comes on the back of the latest Corruption Perception Index released Wednesday in which Ghana scored 40 as against last year’s score of 43 – dropping 11 places in the latest CPI. The Ranking is Ghana’s worst performance in the last six years.
Mr. Batidam, who is on the African Union Advisory Board on Corruption, bemoaned the country’s steady progress in fighting corruption which is now sliding backwards again.
‘From what I am seeing now, I can say that in Ghana now, the perception of corruption is a reality…this gov’t has not done much to its credit when it comes to the fight against corruption. President Nana Akufo-Addo will have to sit up…his government is doing nothing to fight corruption,’ he told Francis Abban on Morning Starr.
Some of the government’s appointees are alleged to have engaged in corruption in their line of duties.
Ghana, dropped three points from its 2016 score of 43 to 40 in 2017 and ranked 81 out of the total of 180 countries.
Cumulatively, Ghana has dropped eight points since 2016, the CPI, was released on Wednesday, February 21 by Transparency International.
The CPI score, indicates the perceived level of public sector corruption on a scale of zero (being highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean).
Executive Director of the Ghana Integrity Initiative, Linda Ofori- Kwafo, said Ghana’s poor score in 2017 was a reflection of inadequate investigations, prosecutions and sanctioning of corrupt officials.
Presenting the report, she said Ghana performed “not too good” adding “since the CPI became comparable from the period 2012 to now, this is the worst performance that Ghana has had. This year, 2017 CPI, we are saying Ghana’s performance from 2012 is the worst so far.”
She was, however, optimistic the situation could improve in the next three years by which time the various government interventions put in place to check corruption in the public sector would have started yielding results.
The newly created Office of the Special Prosecutor, the paperless port system and the Ghana Post digital addressing system, were some of the initiatives she observed could help Ghana shore up its ranking
“When we are able to get the gains of the new initiatives; the paperless port, the digital addressing system and the powers of the Auditor General to do the disallowance and surcharging and then office of the special prosecutor that has come on board…if all these initiatives work very well for us, we’re hoping that in a year, two years, three years to come, we should see a rise in Ghana’s CPI,” she expressed.
Generally, the 2017 CPI, showed majority of countries were making little or no progress in ending corruption.
It also showed journalists and activists in corrupt countries were risking their lives daily in an effort to speak out against corruption.
New Zealand and Denmark, ranked highest with scores of 89 and 88 respectively while Syria, South Sudan and Somalia rank lowest with scores of 14, 12 and 9 respectively.
Western Europe was identified as the best performing region with an average score of 66 with the worst performing regions being Sub-Saharan Africa (with an average score of 32) and Eastern Europe and Central Asia (with an average score of 34).
Source: The Herald
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Where you when Mahama took for awarding contract to Burkinabi contractor in exchange of Ford car
Kojo if the military didn't take over John mahama and his ndc for ***barred word*** who even invested their Peace keeping pay to buy treasury bills then the Ghana armed forces have understood they will stay in the barracks. Ndc would have been the first party to be attacked if there is a take over because ndc have damaged Ghana. Ndc couldn't jail a fly from the NPP because of lack of evidence but NPP has enough evidence to jail ndc ,why are you running away? Nani*ma ! Akronfuo calling for military take over and they think that will help them. Hahahahaha! Ndc mo'awi egya! Hahahaha! Nsawam will take care of you,don't worry. Mmoa
Batidam is a dis.gracesss to anti-corruption fighter. We still remember how he defended Mahama ford rottttt
Akufo-Addo Not Fighting Corruption? In your DREAMS!
You are a small boy. Sure you are!! YOU ARE PREPARING FOR MILITARY TAKEOVER for what? It is the last military takeover that has brought Ghana to this low and Africa in general. It is the military takeover that has given birth to all these Corr.upt people of your ndc. I tell you the truth, believe it or doubt it, the real corr.uption started some 35 years ago at the time of your military takeover of AFRC/ndc1/ndc2. This took Ghana back some three generations and this is why Ghana is struggling and you want Akuffo Addo to make magic. The next military takeover will take is us some 120 years back if you don't know. You speak from your sh.it.ho.le. You never saw what happened in 1983 so just ask your mother because you were not born by then. Fuuul!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You are now beginning to find your voice again, Batidam. So tell us, was the bus branding an act of state-sponsored corruption or not? And what did you say or do when you were at the Flagstaff house?
this man just want to be heard.
AKOFU ADDO IS ***barred word*** THAT WHY HE HAS SAROUNDED HISELF WITH FAMILY AND FIRENDS WE ARE PREPARING MILITRY TO TAKE OVER MARK IT
It is unfortunate that your years of work at the Transparency International did not give you any insight into corruption. You must know that the score you talked about in 2009 was the result of the good works of the Kuffuor's Government, which also saw GDP growth rate of 14%. In this vain the corruption index of 2017 is the legacy of your advice to the Mahama administration, which say GDP fall to 3%. Being a hippocrattee par excellence, you are now blaming who for your poor advice on corruption. God save mother Ghana!