Executive Director of Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII), Vitus Azeem has killed the joy of the Mahama-led government over the latest corruption perception index report which shows a slight improvement in the fight against corruption in the sub-region as against 2014 report.
To him, the improvement does not call for a celebration simply because Ghana scored 48 in 2014 and in 2015 has scored 47; just 1% difference.
Government has described the latest corruption perception index report which shows a slight improvement in the fight against corruption in the sub-region as against figures from previous year as an "enviable feat".
The Corruption Perception Index (CPI) by anti-graft body, Transparency International, ranked Ghana 56th out of 168 countries in the world with a score of 47; a slight improvement in the fight against corruption in the sub-region as against figures from previous year.
According to a statement from the local chapter of Transparency International, Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII), “The CPI 2015 scored Ghana 47 out of clean score of 100 and ranked the country 56 out of 168 countries.” Ghana scored below six African countries – Botswana – 63, Cape Verde – 55, Seychelles – 55, Rwanda – 54, Mauritius and Namibia which scored 53.
But commenting on the issue on Okay Fm’s Ade Akye Abia Morning Show, Vitus Azeem asked government to step up its war against corruption by strengthening the law and the institutions that fight the canker; and subsequently investigate and prosecute offenders.
He pointed out that this is not the time to pat oneself on the back, but the focus of government and the country as a whole should be on the score and not on the ranking; since the ranking is based on the number of countries that are covered in the report.
"...in 2014, 175 countries were covered but in this recent report, only 168 countries were covered," he noted.
Analyzing the participatory countries in 2014 and 2015 reports, Mr. Vitus Azeem revealed a difference of 7 countries which were not covered in this recent report; emphasizing that in ranking, “we scored 63 in 2014 and 56 in this year, a difference of 7 in terms of ranking and so it is just that 7 countries have been dropped from the report and that is what has pushed Ghana up to 56”.
“So that is not something that we should be focusing on; we should be focusing on the score of 47 that is a lower score than what we scored in 2014….the higher your scores, the better you are perceived to be doing well in the fight against corruption”, he pontificated.
Touching on the way forward, the GII Executive Director charged Ghanaians not to only speak out against corruption; “we must condemn corruption and not just condemn, but resist ourselves”.
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