Ghana lost over $340 million to corruption by govt officials - US State Dept
The United States Department of State has disclosed that Ghana lost over $350m to public corruption in the last 2 years.
The United States Department of State has disclosed that Ghana lost over $350m to public corruption in the last 2 years.
According to the State Department, there was wanton corruption the various public sectors.
According to the Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2021, “officials frequently engaged in corrupt practices with impunity.”
Citing the Auditor General’s June Report, the US States Department mentioned that graft is widespread in the country’s public sector.
This, has resulted in the loss of huge sums of public funds.
“The honorary consul general and the Ghanaian consulate in Washington D.C. could not account for visa fees totalling $355,000. The Free Senior High School Secretariat misspent more than $3.16 million.”
A former Minister of Tourism retained three official vehicles for personal use after leaving office. The report concluded that corrupt practices resulted in $340 million of financial mismanagement, including misapplication and misappropriation of funds, theft, and procurement mismanagement.”
However, Dr. Kwesi Aning, the Director, Faculty of Academic Affairs and Research, Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre said the report is bogus.
In an interview on TV3, Prof. Aning said Ghana does not need the US State Department to speak on its behalf on the governance and things that happen in the country.
"Were you to put 20 Ghanaian scholars and human rights activists together we can write the worst report about the United States. So this report to me is rubbish and I think it should be treated with the contempt that it deserves. After almost 62 years of independence, we can write our own report.
"We have a vibrant civil society, we have a Parliament irrespective of its problems or weaknesses, we have a judiciary that we can criticize. A whole Minister made suggestions about how judicial decisions can lead to certain problems," he said.
