The Co-Chair of the Citizens Movement Against Corruption (CMAC) Edem Senanu says corruption in Ghana is becoming bolder and more imitative because there are still no real consequences for people caught abusing public funds.
Reacting to recent revelations of alleged coordinated looting schemes at the National Buffer Stock Company, he said what the country is witnessing is not an isolated scandal but a reflection of a deeper “moral and ethical temperature” where people now copy corrupt schemes the same way entrepreneurs copy business trends.
“We have developed a culture of copy-cat corruption. Somebody tries it and succeeds, and very soon many others are doing the same thing. The confidence comes from the absence of sancti ons,” he said on TV3’s The KeyPoints on October 25.
He warned that what has been uncovered publicly so far is likely only “the tip of the iceberg.”
He pointed to the fact that officials who left office after the last transition were required to file final asset declarations but said there is no evidence that anyone has audited those declarations.
“If this is what oral disclosures have shown, imagine what an asset declaration audit will reveal,” he said.
The CMAC co-chair noted that other African countries have enforced timelines and strengthened sanctions with measurable success.
He cited Kenya and Zambia, where specialised anti-corruption courts have six-month timelines and a clear legal framework for plea bargains and recovery of stolen funds.
He contrasted that with Ghana, where sanctions are unclear and many cases drag without conclusion.
“The lack of practical sanctions is breeding impunity. People have money wired into their accounts because they believe it won’t be uncovered and even if it is, they think they can bargain their way out or delay the case until they’ve doubled the money.”
He called on government to quickly complete and pass the Conduct of Public Officers Bill with explicit sanctions, so courts do not have room for debate when public officials are convicted.
He also urged authorities to: “Fully operationalise specialised courts and ensure they meet strict timelines, Deploy multiple agencies to handle cases instead of leaving everything to one office, Publicise sanctions to create deterrence, Audit post-exit asset declarations of public officers.”
“The boldness of corruption today is getting beyond imagination. Unless sanctions are clear, enforced, time-bound and visible to the public, this copy-cat corruption culture will deepen,” he said.
By Christabel Success Treve
