Corruption Threatens “Ghana Beyond Aid”– Veep

The “Ghana Beyond Aid”, a President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s Coordinated Programme of Economic and Social Development Policies (2017-2024) will suffer if corruption is not properly addressed, Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, has said.

    He said the Government had therefore instituted reforms to eliminate waste and seal opportunities for corruption in the country.

     He said the reforms include digitisation of processes at the Ports for clearing goods, introduction of online passport application forms and implementation of transparent allocation of oil blocks to investors.

     “Government is strengthening anti-corruption institutions to enable them address corruption, promote probity, accountability and transparency by providing them (with) more resources,” Vice President Bawumia stated in Accra on Monday, at the launch of the 2018 Anti-Corruption and Transparency (ACT) Week Celebration.

     The ACT week is on the theme “Winning the Fight Against Corruption – A Panacea for Ghana Beyond Aid”.

     Vice President Bawumia, whose speech was read on his behalf by Professor George Gyan-Baffour, Minister of Planning, said government had allocated more resources to the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) for the implementation of NACAP.

    He said the Government was also reconstructing a modern office block for CHRAJ to replace the old offices, which was destroyed in a fire outbreak in 2013.

    Other anti-corruption measures embarked on by the government he said, was that the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) was receiving the needed attention.

    He added that GHC180million was at the disposal of the OSP in the 2019 Budget and efforts were currently ongoing to adopt the necessary supporting legislation to enable it take-off.

     Dr Bawumia said the Ghana Police Service was also being provided with the necessary logistics and personnel, whilst the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO), the Auditor-General’s Department, and others had also received due attention.

     “Government is also enforcing the Public Procurement Laws to ensure value for money and to curtail sole sourcing, an avenue for corruption,” the Vice President said.

     “I am glad that these measures have resulted in significant savings of GHC1.8 billion from January 2017 to October 2018, to the state,” the Vice President said.