US embassy cable - 05ACCRA1505

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ACCRA 001505 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
STATE PLEASE PASS FOR TREASURY LUKAS KOHLER 
USTR FOR LAURIE-ANN AGAMA 
COMMERCE FOR MARIA RIVERO 
MCC FOR ROD NORMAN 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON, GH, PGOV, PHUM, SOCI, Transparency, corruption 
SUBJECT: RESULTS OF TRANSPARENCY INTERNATIONAL SURVEY ON 
CORRUPTION IN GHANA 
 
REF: ACCRA 1386 
 
1.  (U)  Summary:  On July 19, the local chapter of 
Transparency International released a public opinion poll on 
perceptions of corruption in Ghana.  The survey, while 
limited to three urban areas in the south, indicated that 
most people view corruption as pervasive and getting worse, 
although they express a high tolerance for it, and are not 
overly concerned.  The police, the Ministry of Education, and 
the customs service are perceived to be most corrupt.  Half 
of those surveyed thought the government was committed to 
fighting corruption.  End summary. 
 
2.  (U)  On July 19, the Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII), 
the local chapter of Transparency International, held a press 
conference to release the results of its March 10-26 public 
opinion survey on perceptions of corruption in urban 
households.  The survey was based on 900 interviews of a 
representative sample of households in the three main cities 
in southern Ghana:  Accra-Tema, Takoradi-Sekondi, and Kumasi. 
 
 
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Pervasive Corruption 
-------------------- 
 
3.  (U)  The survey revealed a strong perception of 
significant corruption in Ghana.  Ninety-two percent of 
respondents consider corruption a serious problem in Ghana, 
with around 60% stating that corruption is getting worse. 
Respondents attributed corruption primarily to low income and 
poverty.  Almost 70% of respondents had been involved in 
bribery or corruption, mostly as victims.  Two thirds said 
they had experienced corruption within the past year, with 
the same number reporting having witnessed incidents of 
bribery or corruption (20% said they see bribery on a daily 
basis).  Roughly 50% said they occasionally experienced 
bribery in their day-to-day activity, while 33% said it was 
"very frequent".  In one of the most interesting findings, 
76% said they readily accepted the offer of a bribe, while 
17% said they rejected the offer of bribes.  And 88% reported 
that they are normally unconcerned when they witness 
incidents of bribery or corruption. 
 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
Police and Ministry of Education Seen as Most Corrupt 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
 
4.  (U)  When asked which institutions they perceived to be 
highly affected by corruption, 77% put the police at the top 
of their list, 31% said the Ministry of Education, and 31% 
said the Customs and Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS). 
Around sixteen percent cited the judicial service, civil 
service and Ministry of Health. The lowest (best) scores of 
the ten institutions cited in this study were politicians 
(9%), and the Electricity Company, the Internal Revenue 
Service, and the Ghana Immigration Service (which each scored 
around 5%).  One third of respondents said "most" civil 
servants are involved in corruption.  Over half thought 
government contracts are awarded on the basis of party 
loyalty, backdoor deals, nepotism, and/or ethnicity. 
 
5.  (U)  The GOG got mixed reviews in its efforts to tackle 
corruption, with 51% of those surveyed saying the government 
is committed to the fight against bribery and corruption. 
Although the police are perceived to be the worst offenders, 
most of those surveyed said they rely most on the police 
service to combat corruption. 
 
-------------------- 
What To Do About It? 
-------------------- 
 
6.  (U)  Respondents offered a variety of ideas to tackle 
corruption.  Most were economic: increase the pay of 
government employees and reduce poverty in the country.  They 
also argued for stronger anti-corruption laws, stiffer prison 
terms, and stronger education efforts to change values which 
tolerate corruption.  In its presentation of the report, 
Ghana Integrity Initiative Executive Director Daniel Batidam 
recommended the adoption of a Code of Conduct for public 
servants and cited the need for more civic education.  He 
hoped the GOG's anti-corruption entities could be given 
prosecutorial powers and called for passage of Whistle Blower 
and Freedom of Information Act bills which have been 
languishing in parliament. 
 
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Comment 
------- 
 
7.  (SBU)  The study does not provide a basis to compare 
corruption perceptions over time or with other countries. 
However, it makes a compelling case that corruption in Ghana 
is perceived as pervasive and widely tolerated.  The GII 
survey reinforced the results of a broader opinion poll 
released on July 6, the Center for Democratic Development 
(CDD)'s "Afrobarometer", which reported the perception that 
corruption in Ghana is increasing (reftel). 
 
8.  (SBU)  While the police were perceived to be most corrupt 
in both surveys, we were somewhat surprised with the GII's 
finding that the Ministry of Education was perceived to be 
the second most corrupt institution in Ghana.  This may 
reflect in part some high profile exam cheating incidents and 
teacher corruption which rocked higher education in the 
Spring.  In addition, the education sector has one of the 
biggest budgets in the GOG, with significant construction and 
procurement providing opportunities for corruption.  Press 
reports over the past year have noted petty corruption in 
school admissions, and large numbers of ghost names 
discovered on the education payroll for teachers and teaching 
staff.  All of these may have impacted perceptions about the 
sector.  GII contacts told PolChief that they are not totally 
surprised by this result but could not explain it fully. 
 
9.  (SBU)  Clearly more work needs to be done in increasing 
the awareness of the need to fight corruption (many of the 
media questions at the press conference were also 
ill-informed) and in strengthening anti-corruption laws and 
institutions.   Nonetheless, we are impressed by the apparent 
willingness of respondents to answer honestly about their own 
participation in petty bribery.  Almost 20% of respondents 
said they refuse bribes and over half believe the government 
is serious about fighting corruption.  When asked whether 
ministers, parliamentarians, civil servants or municipal 
officials are involved in corruption, thirty percent of 
respondents thought "few" were involved, while forty percent 
said they did not know. 
 
10.  (SBU)  It was also encouraging that the Minister of 
Finance sent a number of senior ministry officials to the 
press conference with the stated purpose of highlighting the 
GOG's commitment to fighting corruption.  Even if their 
comments were not altogether convincing.  For example, 
Commissioner of CEPS General Baiden said no one is going to 
stop corruption", remarking that if corruption were so bad at 
CEPS, why did so many people seek employment there (because 
of corruption opportunities, others responded -- a conclusion 
he was unwilling to accept.) 
 
11.  (SBU)  The kind of open discussion and extensive media 
coverage given this report was also positive.  While some in 
the media tell us they feel government pressure not to report 
on incidents of corruption, the fact is that there is 
extensive coverage of corruption issues in the press.  The 
directors of both GII and CDD have told PolChief they do not 
feel threatened or pressured by the government because of 
their outspoken stance on corruption. Corruption does  not 
now seem to be so great a threat that it is significantly 
impacting the stability of Ghana's democracy, although the 
general tolerance of corruption among average Ghanaians is 
worrisome.  However, government corruption is a frequent 
complaint of businessmen (including American businessmen) and 
it is undermining the investment climate and the effective 
use of economic resources. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
LANIER