Corruption in the body politic of Ghana is no longer about MPs taking GH�7000 and GH�50,000 in recent allowance.
It is no longer about party people getting desilting jobs when they do not have accounts at any bank in Ghana and it is also not about contractors paying ahead donations for ruling party to be charged to their account then they received contracts.
At the Birth and Deaths Registry, the huge demand for passports has in effect created a demand for birth certificates. An important document, which is a right for every Ghanaian has therefore become a privilege if you want to access one with the intention of traveling outside or doing an important business or for educational purposes.
Even when you are able to track down your old copy from your wardrobe, the juicy nature of the structures created demands that you pick a new one at the Birth and Deaths Registry for which you must vomit GH�100.00 or lowest GH�50.00 and await for response within one week � though it can be processed because of the fast rate of inflows within two days.
The processes and procedures at play at the Birth and Deaths Registry has, as a consequence, created huge traffic at the premises. Monies are handed openly to and from Goro Boys to be given to Birth and Death Registry personnel who hand back kicks to the Goro Boys and expeditiously type out details to be handled between the Adjabeng office and the Ministries Offices, which is the headquarters.
Goro Boys have become a phenomenon pervading the entire socio-economic fabric because of unemployment challenges facing Governments in Ghana. Between the Client Service personnel and the officers handling the various schedules are several intermediaries, which make the cost of acquiring the document and handling and preparing responses rather expensive.
From Monday through the midweek to Friday, the queues are endless and the stream of applicants embarrassing. Paradoxically, those in need urgently of the document, because of the procedures and systems in place, are delayed, whilst those who may not necessarily be in urgent need hold up the rest who are in actual need.
The Department, which obviously is under the Ministry of Health, needs a shake-up, particularly since the revenue ends up going into private pockets because of the poor systems in place.
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