By: Franklin ASARE-DONKOH
Ghana’s first female Vice President, Professor Naana Jane Opoku Agyemang, says her government’s quest to fight corruption and corruption-related practices requires a collective effort of the citizenry.
She has thus called on anti-corruption agencies, other stakeholders to come together to fight against corruption, which she said has become endemic.
Ghana’s first female Vice President made the call when addressing participants at the High-Level conference on Ghana’s anti-corruption architecture held at the Accra International Conference Center (AICC) on June 6, 2025.
According to Prof Opoku-Agyemang, despite Ghana showing a strong performance against most Sub-Saharan countries, the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) assessment proves otherwise.
This, she noted, has been captured in the 2024 Corruption Perception Index, the Ibrahim Index of African Governance, and the 2022 Ghana Statistical Service Corruption Report, which says corruption led to a loss of about Ghc5 billion.
The Vice President explained that the declining effort in fighting corruption is a result of a worrying trend of “weak enforcement, political interferences, and the lack of systematic deterrence.
These concerns she cited reflect not just dissatisfaction but an expectation that Ghana can do better.
Despite our strong institutional framework, Ghana’s performance on key corruption indicators has stagnated and, in some cases, declined.
The African Union Advisory Board on Corruption (AUABC)’s multi-stakeholder approach recognises that corruption affects all sectors of society and therefore requires all sectors to be part of the solution.
No anti-corruption architecture can succeed without active citizen engagement. Civil society organisations, investigative journalists, and ordinary citizens are our partners in this fight,” the Vice President reiterated.
However, Prof. Opoku-Agyemang affirmed the current government’s willingness to end corruption. Saying a range of initiatives and actions, such as the Operation Recover All Loot (ORAL), a review of the 1992 Constitution, and a Presidential Advisor on anti-corruption matters, are examples to revitalise the country’s anti-corruption efforts.
“Operation Recover All Loot (ORAL) is an effort to send a clear message that corruption will not be tolerated going forward. The launch of a comprehensive code of conduct for all presidential appointees establishes clear ethical standards from the highest levels of government. The commitment to reviewing the 1992 constitution to make it fit for purpose to meet our current governance challenges is yet another demonstration of the President’s commitment to the fight against corruption. The appointment of a Presidential Advisor on the National Anti-Corruption Program, the first of its kind since 1992, represents a strategic approach to coordinating our efforts,” the Vice President pointed out.
She further called for comprehensive legislation to regulate the financing of political parties and national elections.
The High-Level conference on Ghana’s anti-corruption architecture, organised by the African Union Advisory Board on Corruption (AUABC), brought together Anti-corruption agencies, Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) operating in the anti-graft space, among other stakeholders to reflect on and provide a new National Anti-Corruption Action Plan (NACAP).
The theme for the conference was “Revitalising the Anti-corruption Architecture in Africa: Ghana’s Accountability Journey.”
