Former President John Agyekum Kufuor has slammed Ghana’s approach to tackling corruption, describing it as hypocritical.
He believes the nation has failed to devote sufficient time to addressing the issue and finding effective solutions, making the fight against the canker amounting to romancing a stone.
“I’ll tell you, I think our nation generally has been quite hypocritical about the way we’ve treated corruption or talked about it,” Kufuor stated in a recorded interview played at Media General’s Dialogue on “Lifestyle Audits: Enhancing Public Service Ethics” on Monday, November 24, 2025.
According to Kufuor, efforts to combat corruption have been mere pretense, lacking genuine commitment. He emphasised the need for a comprehensive examination of the issue to identify its causes and develop effective solutions.
“Pretending we’re trying to find solutions. And it’s all because, one, we haven’t had a serious study of corruption, which would entail the analysis of it and to find the causes of the deepening corruption which is now so riven the entire society might be described as corrupt,” he explained.
His call comes amid growing demands for legislation to support lifestyle audits of public officials, with some arguing that a new law is necessary to effectively combat corruption.
The push for lifestyle audits has gained momentum in Ghana, driven by numerous corruption and corruption-related cases involving public officials. This has highlighted the need for a clear legal framework to guide enforcement efforts and ensure accountability
The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, in June 2025, announced that Parliament was set to begin drafting a legislation to support lifestyle audits for individuals suspected of amassing unexplained wealth in the country.
The law will help Ghana’s fight against corruption, where persons who acquire wealth suspected to be outside their income stream would be put before the law to proof the authenticity of their wealth.
The Speaker, addressing the House on Monday, June 9, 2025, he noted that the proposed bill would empower state institutions to investigate the lifestyles of public officials, politically exposed persons, and private individuals whose standard of living does not correlate with their known sources of income.
“I am, to this end, receiving a lot of input to process legislation on lifestyle audits,” Mr. Bagbin stated. “I’m happy to hear OSP also included it in their statement. We will legislate and stop this impunity of people flaunting ill-gotten wealth in the face of poor Ghanaians.”
He shared how the proposal has gained traction among senior members of government and civil society, including Vice President Prof. Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang, who also recently expressed support for such reforms.
Speaker Bagbin’s announcement aligns with growing calls by anti-corruption institutions and advocates who are calling for aggressive legal tools to fight graft in the country.
Meanwhile, the Special Prosecutor, William Kissi Agyebeng, has also shared how his outfit is working to ensure there are constitutional reforms to allow lifestyle audits and asset seizures, even without a criminal conviction.
Addressing participants at the West Africa Regional Anti-Corruption Policy Dialogue in Accra, Mr. Agyebeng described as outdated, the current legal framework, saying they are ineffective for curbing modern corruption schemes.
He proposed a “reverse onus” clause that would require individuals to explain the source of their wealth or risk forfeiture of unexplained assets.
“In matters of anti-corruption, prevention is always better than cure,” he said. “Investigations and prosecutions are slow, expensive, and often unproductive due to entrenched secrecy and wealth layering.”
The Special Prosecutor stated that lifestyle audits remain one of the most cost-effective ways to expose and deter illicit enrichment, adding that asset recovery should not be contingent upon lengthy criminal proceedings.
MG Dialogue: We don’t need new legislation to tackle lifestyle audit – Dr. Ofosu-Dorte
