Constitutional review must include anti-corruption framework – Special Prosecutor – Ghana Business News
The Office of the Special Prosecutor has urged the Constitutional Review Committee to establish a dedicated chapter on anti-corruption, including a framework definition, to strengthen Ghana’s fight against corruption.
Speaking at the opening of the West African Regional Anti-Corruption Policy Dialogue in Accra, Mr. Kissi Agyebeng, Special Prosecutor, called for a paradigm shift, stating that current methods have failed to curb corruption.
The dialogue, organised by Transparency International-Ghana with support from Global Affairs Canada, is themed “Breaking Barriers: Transforming Healthcare and Education Access for Women through Inclusive Policies and Practices.”
Mr. Agyebeng emphasised that corruption had overwhelmed the country, with perpetrators becoming increasingly sophisticated, making enforcement more difficult.
“We are finding that people are carrying around laptops, with the Director General’s signature on their laptops, giving out appointment letters on their laptops wherever they go, and purporting to be appointing teachers and pocketing the proceeds thereof,” he said.
He cited fraudulent claims for non-existent schools and the validation of ghost names for salary payments in the education sector.
Such practices, he noted, hinder Ghana’s ability to provide quality education and healthcare to marginalised populations.
Mr. Agyebeng stressed the need to rethink corruption policies, warning that theoretical approaches had proven ineffective.
“The theories are not bearing out what we are encountering on the ground. The theories do not match the practice,” he said.
He urged a more functionally specific approach, grounded in real-world implementation rather than abstract policy frameworks.
The dialogue featured officials from Ghana, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Senegal, Togo, Côte d’Ivoire, Rwanda, Benin, Liberia, and Zimbabwe.
Professor Ernest Davis, Director General of the Ghana Education Service, warned that corruption undermines access to quality education, particularly for girls and vulnerable groups.
“Corrupt practices such as the use of dishonest approaches driven by pride and greed—cronyism, nepotism, and favouritism—to recruit the wrong calibre of teachers with inappropriate attitudes and values expose learners, especially the girl-child and vulnerable groups, to all forms of abuse and exploitation, including sexual abuse,” he said.
He noted that such practices increase school dropout rates, particularly among girls.
Prof. Dacis highlighted initiatives such as the computerised school selection system, digitalisation of GES operations, and the free SHS policy as measures to curb corruption and improve education access.
Prof. Samuel Kaba Akoriyea, Director General of the Ghana Health Service, warned that universal health coverage will remain unattainable if corruption continues to siphon national resources.
“Corruption in the health sector is a matter of life and death,” he said, urging countries to implement accountability systems at all levels.
Madam Francesca Pobee-Hayford, Former Director at the Department of Women, Ministry of Gender, Children, and Social Protection, called for targeted policies supporting vulnerable groups, including incentives for health workers and teachers to serve in marginalised areas.
While commending the government’s free sanitary pad initiative, she called for increased budgetary allocations to ensure its effectiveness.
Source: GNA
The post Constitutional review must include anti-corruption framework – Special Prosecutor appeared first on Ghana Business News.