Professor Enoch Opoku Antwi, a governance expert and policy analyst, believes there should be a mechanism to ascertain how people make their money in Ghana.
He has questioned the legitimacy of some individuals’ wealth, citing examples of people claiming to have amassed wealth through retail businesses like selling kerosene and cassette tapes, which he finds hard to believe.
“How can someone sell kerosene and cassette and make huge sums of money?” he asks, highlighting the need for scrutiny into how people exhibit luxurious lifestyles.
According to him, while it is possible to generate wealth from such businesses, it’s mind-boggling that one could become a millionaire through such a trade. He noted that others have been in similar trades for years without amassing such wealth.
Speaking ahead of Media General’s Dialogue on “Lifestyle Audits: Enhancing Public Service Ethics” on Monday, November 24, 2025, the Dean of Business and Communication at the Academic City University emphasised the need for a system to track how people acquire wealth in Ghana.
“Do we have a way [to check how] people earn money in this country? Do we rank rich people in this country, how they make their money?,” he quizzed.
“Somebody will say I was selling a kerosene, I was selling some cassette and I made money and people believe it,” he added.
Prof. Antwi noted that while it’s possible to make money from such businesses, he also questioned how many people have become wealthy solely from selling kerosene or cassettes.
He explained further that a research he has conducted shows that most rich people on the continent cannot account for the source of their wealth, raising suspicions of corruption.
“So, I have done some research that even most rich people in Africa, try to get into their business, they are not listed at the stock exchange. Try to get how they made their money and most of the funding, even their revenue is blocked,” he stated.
He also stressed how whistle-blowing is essential in dealing with corruption in the country, saying that people who acquire wealth through suspicious means would be checked by the appropriate authorities if their backs are blown.
MG Dialogues: Whistle-blowing key to tackling corruption in Ghana – Prof. Antwi
