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One of the essential prerequisites for good governance and accountability constitutes the ‘orderly and efficient use of public funds.’

It is argued that the rule of law and procedures for accountability constrain the state’s power and ensure that it is used only in a controlled and consensual manner.  

 
However, Ghana has a poor record in the area of public financial accountability which adversely affect the effective and efficient use of government revenues.

As emphasised by Ackerman (2004), the only way good governance can be secured is by ‘institutionalising powerful accountability mechanisms that hold public officials responsible for their actions as public servants.

Based on the principal–agent theory, in a democracy the principal is the citizenry, who through elections delegate authority to Parliament and President, who in turn establish bureaucratic hierarchies to carry out their wishes.

 
Accountability mechanisms help to ensure that the agent (politician) acts in the interests of the principal (voter) and does not engage in opportunistic behaviour.

Corruption is a key threat to good governance, democratic processes and fair business competition (OECD,2011).

Corruption in Ghana occurs because of weak values, systems and consequences (Pauw et al., 2008:348).


At the similar level of economic development, the least corrupt governments collect four per cent of GDP more in tax revenues than countries with the highest levels of corruption.

Corruption has damaging effects on economic growth and political legitimacy (Fukuyama, 2014, p.82).

Constitution
Article 35(8) of the 1992 Constitution enjoins the State of Ghana to “take steps to eradicate corrupt practices and abuse of power” and Chapter 24 of the Constitution mostly regulate the Code of Conduct of Public Officers under various provisions comprising conflict of interests, public appointments and complaints of contravention of the Code of Conduct.

The solution to the problems regarding the role of money in African politics lies ultimately with practical activities by stakeholders such as political actors, public oversight bodies and civil society (Fukuyama, 2014).


According to Anna Bossman, a former Commissioner of CHRAJ, an enabling environment within which anticorruption agencies and institutions of governance including CHRAJ among others, effectively operate requires a responsible media, civil society/citizen engagement, coalitions, international cooperation and above all political will.

In his key principal – agent theory for explaining public corruption, Robert Klitgaard provides 
an equation of  public corruption = monopoly + discretion – accountability.

Consequently, effective anti-corruption policy solutions should include:

• Monitoring agents extensively;
• Designing highly detailed contracts; 
• Introducing free-market competition and decentralisation; 
• Adding mechanisms to improve vertical, horizontal and social accountability. 

 
Mandate, CHRAJ
Due to its importance, article 216 of Chapter 18 of Constitution required the establishment of Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) within six months after Parliament first meets after the coming into force of the Constitution, with a specific mandate to investigate and work to prevent corruption.  

Per Article 218 (a) and (e); 284-288 of the 1992 Constitution and Section 7(1) (a), (e) and (f) of Act 456, CHRAJ is mandated to among others investigate:

(i) abuse of power and “all instances of alleged or suspected corruption and the misappropriation of public monies by officials” (Article 218 (e));
 (ii) allegations of breaches of the code of conduct under Chapter 24 of the 1992 Constitution.

Importantly, Article 218 (g) requires CHRAJ to report annually to Parliament on the performance of its functions.

However, as of June 15, 2023, CHRAJ has not yet released its 2021 annual report on its website.

Many petitions for investigations including non-declaration of assets by public officials thus remain unresolved.  

Paradoxically,  in August 2022 Mr Richard Quayson, Deputy Commissioner of CHRAJ, said “endemic corruption swallows on the average about 20 per cent of the national budget annually” and urged Ghanaians to change the habit of seeing corruption as normal and develop a strong a abhorrence for it (Ghana News Agency, 2022).

A possible explanation of CHRAJ’s inability to fulfil its mandate could be due to contextual difficulties including the lack of adequate funding, limited enforcement capacity, the absence of second order accountability (i.e., holding accounting agencies accountable) and the overall weakness of the rule of law needed to enforce agency sanctions.

For instance, in 2020 the allocated budget to cater for anti-corruption was merely GH¢300,000.  

In the Report of the Special Committee on 2020.

Annual Budget Estimate of CHRAJ, the committee was informed that the staff levels of the commission was inadequate and it did not have its full complement of technical staff prompting the committee to recommend to the Ministry of Finance to grant CHRAJ special.

Dispensation and financial clearance to enable it to recruit the requisite staff.

The committee also recommended to the President to consider an appointment of an additional Deputy Commissioner to meet the full complement of the establishment of CHRAJ.

In her submission to the United Nations Conference on Anti-Corruption Measures, Good Governance and Human Rights in November 2006, the acting commissioner of CHRAJ outlined a number of external and internal challenges faced by CHRAJ in the fight against corruption.

The external challenges comprised inadequate legal and institutional framework, lack of government commitment or political will and responsible media.

We have emphasised that the government must demonstrate political will and commitment to the fight against corruption by adequately resourcing our institutions.

Responsible Media
 However, the media must be more responsible in their reportage and guard against media tyranny.

In some cases, we have found that in reporting what is perceived to be corruption, the media has not been motivated by personal integrity or reasons of public interest but rather by malice. 

Internal Challenges
The preceding discourse highlights the external and environmental challenges that we as a nation face in combating corruption. 

As an institution, CHRAJ faces impediments and obstacles that seriously challenge its efficacy and the efficient discharge of its mandate.

These problems include:

Resource Constraints
Inadequate resourcing and the need for financial independence in order to fully execute our mandate.

It is in the interest of both the Executive and Legislature to ensure adequate and appropriate resourcing of CHRAJ, which as we have been at pains to point out, is three bodies in one, and the funds allocated should reflect this.

Poor conditions of service of our staff lead to exodus of qualified core staff, especially our legal officers.

This hampers service delivery and causes backlog in our cases.

Anna Bossman, Ghana’s ambassador to France and the former commissioner of CHRAJ has called on the government to resource anti-graft bodies in order to effectively win the war against corruption in Ghana:

“I always want anti-corruption institutions to be very well resourced to have what it takes to promote the integrity the country needs or wants” (The Ghana Report, March 26, 2023).