Ghana Immigration Service named among top takers of bribe
Prison officials named No. 10 officials who demand bribe in Ghana
Judges, prosecutors and Lands Commission officers in the country have been named as the groups of people who take the fattest monetary bribes.
This is according to a report on corruption and bribery in Ghana titled “Corruption in Ghana, People’s Experiences and Views” and produced by the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice, in partnership with the Ghana Statistical Service and with support from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
The report showed that when it comes to judges and prosecutors, while they do not fall within the range of public sector workers who engage with people a lot, they actually are the ones that demand the fattest forms of bribes.
It further indicated that the figures suggest that such fat amounts are paid to public officials to influence very important decisions.
“Among all types of public official for which there was sufficient data, with an average of Ghanaian cedi 1,669, the largest cash bribes were paid to Lands Commission Officers, and Prosecutors, judges or magistrates (Ghanaian cedi 1,208). By contrast, much smaller average amounts were paid to health workers (Ghanaian cedi 91–253) and police officers (Ghanaian cedi 220).
“These disparities suggest very different dynamics in the payment of bribes, depending on the public official on the receiving end of those payments. It is notable that the largest average bribes are paid to public officials with whom most citizens have little contact in their daily lives. This may suggest that large bribes, although relatively rare, are generally paid to influence important decisions by public officials, which can have substantial economic or personal consequences (for example, by influencing land-related decisions, immigration matters, or prosecutors and judges),” the report stated.
The report concluded that more than 17.4 million bribes were paid to public officials in the year 2021 alone.
The report also stated that 25.9% per cent of all survey respondents, who had at least one contact with a public official in the 12 months prior to the 2021 survey, paid at least one bribe or were asked to pay a bribe, in the same period.
However, the prevalence of bribery according to the report is highest in relation to police officers (53.2 percent), followed by Ghana Immigration Service Officers (37.4 percent) and Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) Customs Officers (33.6 percent).
At the other end of the scale, the report showed that the prevalence of bribery is one of the lowest in relation to health workers other than doctors, nurses, and midwives, at 3.3 percent, and elected government representatives, at 2.9 percent.
Here are the top ten public officials who take the most bribes according to CHRAJ and the Ghana Statistical Service:
1. Police officers (53.2%)
2. Ghana Immigration Service officers (37.4%)
3. GRA customs officers* (33.6%)
4. Lands Commission (32.4%)
5. Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (29.5%) 6. Passport agency officials (29.0%)
7. Prosecutors, judges or magistrates (22.3%)
8. National Intelligence Bureau (21.2%)
9. National Road Safety Authority (17.8%)
10. Prison officials (17.0%)
Meanwhile, GhanaWeb is accepting nominations for the prestigious GhanaWeb Excellence Awards – Youth Edition. Click here to nominate.
EA/WA
Judges have been named among those who take the fattest bribes