Govt�s Fight Against Corruption Is A Joke

A private legal practitioner, Ace Ankomah has described government�s �seeming� fight against corruption as a joke. �The fight against corruption in Ghana is like a journey from Accra to Takoradi. As you drive on the road, you begin to see signposts with numbers written on; 50, 80 and you wonder what it means because you never took a driver�s test when you got a license�The fight against corruption is a joke,�he said. Ace Ankomah said the elements of corruption has become so evident in the country that �people in the public office are influenced in the course of their job.�According to him, monies paid to influence top officials is regarded by the law as crime. �Whether the bribe is prepaid, contemporaneous or postpaid, our law says it is a crime..,� he stressed. He made the comments at a meeting held to discuss issues regarding corruption in Ghana. His statement comes after a former Commissioner of Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), Emile Short said Ghana�s corruption has reached frightening proportions. �The lack of accountability, the mind set of people going into public office and also the fact that there is no sensitisation or awareness creation about the evils of corruption and the cost of corruption,�Emile Short said. The Head of the Human Security Department of the National Security Secretariat, Brigadier-General Joseph Nunoo-Mensah (rtd) recently expressed concern about the never-ending corruption cases in Ghana,saying the situation had reached an epidemic levels. Ace Ankomah emphasized the need for the Attorney General�s department to offer explanations as to why it has decided to allow individuals indicted in various corrupt scandals to go unpunished.