Ada, July 24, GNA-Some residents in Ada West and East District in the Greater Accra Region have described as disheartening for public institutions to lead a corruption league table.
According to the residents they felt disappointed and would continue to have less confidence and hope in public institutions.
In an interview with the Ghana News Agency in Ada in reaction to the latest research conducted by the Ghana Statistical Service with other stakeholders dubbed: “Corruption in Ghana, Peoples Experiences and View,” the residents said it was wrong for government institutions to be leading in corruption instead of fighting.
Mr. Bright Buernor Kpalam, a farmer at Toflokpo near Sege said even though Ghanaians could not deny that corruption was an inherent ‘culture’ in human society Ghanaians must not be naturally corrupt.
“But it becomes a problem when critical public institutions mandated to fight the canker are now leaders in a league on a corruption tablet,” he added.
Mr. Kpalam said corruption within and among government institutions if not dealt with at the earliest possible time would delay Ghana’s development.
He commended the Ghana Statistical Service and other stakeholders who conducted the survey noting that, “such research will alert institutions to up their game in the fight against corruption, there is hope.”
Mr. Nicholas Tetteh, a teacher at Ada on his part stated that nobody could challenge the report if they have ever fallen prey to the treatment of the agencies involved.
“If one is not a direct victim to any of these government agencies, one would have heard of their bribery allegations. It’s true that these agencies are the worst in taking bribe from the innocent,” he said.
Other residents expressed similar sentiments and called for the prosecution of the public officials implicated in any act of corruption.
The survey indicated that more than 17.4 million bribes were paid in 2021 with police officers topping the list of officials who take bribes at 53.2 percent.
The Immigration Service Officers and customs officers of the Ghana Revenue Authority, followed at 37.4 percent and 33.6 percent respectively, while elected government representatives are at the bottom of the list at 2.9 percent.
According to the survey, people with the highest level of (tertiary) education were 1.6 times more likely to have paid a bribe than people with no formal education.
Also, 10 out of the 16 administrative regions recorded a prevalence of bribery higher than the national average.
There are, however, sizable variations across the 16 regions of the country.
GNA