Ghana Police Tagged As Top Recipients Of Bribes

A disconcerting corruption report from 2022 has drawn attention to the pervasive issue of bribery within Ghana’s public sector.

The findings of the report shed light on the fact that police officers are the most susceptible to bribery among all public officials, with an alarming prevalence rate of 53.2 percent.

Conducted through a collaborative effort between the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), and the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS), the survey offers a troubling insight into the extent of corruption.

Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) officers and Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) customs officers also stand out with significant bribery rates of 37.4 percent and 33.6 percent, respectively.

Interestingly, elected government representatives exhibit notably lower involvement in bribery, registering a mere 2.9 percent.

Various forms of bribes are offered to public officials. A striking 84.8 percent of bribes in Ghana are provided in the form of cash. While the exchange of a public service for another service and the offering of food and drinks are less common, rural areas (17.8 percent) display a higher tendency to use food and drink bribes compared to urban areas (10.1 percent).

The cumulative value of cash bribes in Ghana nearly amounts to a third of the Ministry of Education’s 2021 budget.

Urban cash bribes are 1.5 times larger than rural ones, with the national average bribe amounting to 348 Ghanaian cedis. With approximately 17.4 million bribes paid in Ghana in 2021, the annual sum for cash bribes to public officials reaches around 5 billion Ghanaian cedis. This is equivalent to 32.9 percent of the Ministry of Education’s 2021 budget.

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