Corruption 'worsening', Akufo-Addo govt doing poorly at fighting it – Afrobarometer report

More than half of Ghanaians have said that the level of corruption in the country has increased and the Akufo-Addo government is doing a poor job at fighting it, a new Afrobarometer survey has said.

Approval ratings for the government’s anti-corruption efforts have declined since 2017 despite the setting up of the Office of the Special Prosecutor.

It more than doubled three years ago, according to the report.

“More than half (53%) of Ghanaians say corruption in the country has worsened ‘somewhat’ or ‘a lot’ during the year preceding the survey, a 17-percentage-point increase compared to 2017. This follows a huge (47-percentage-point) improvement between 2014 and 2017”, the survey said, adding: “Compared to 2017, there has been a 27-percentage-point drop in popular approval ratings of the government’s performance in fighting corruption – a dramatic reversal of earlier gains. Only a minority (40%) say the government is doing a ‘fairly’ or ‘very’ good job”.

The survey shows that most Ghanaians perceive, at least, “some” corruption in key public institutions and a majority fear retaliation if they report graft to the authorities.

Ghana ranks 78th out of 180 countries on Transparency International’s 2018 Corruption Perceptions Index, three places below its 2017 position.

Key findings:

Among key public officials in Ghana, the police, judges and magistrates, Members of Parliament, civil servants, and tax officials are most widely perceived as corrupt (Figure 1). But perceived corruption among the police has declined slightly compared to 2017.

The Army, religious leaders, and the presidency are the most trusted public institutions (by 72%, 63%, and 58% who say they trust them “somewhat” or “a lot”), while opposition political parties (37%), local government officials (38%), and tax officials (39%) are least trusted.



More than half (53%) of Ghanaians say corruption in the country has worsened “somewhat” or “a lot” during the year preceding the survey, a 17-percentage-point increase compared to 2017. This follows a huge (47-percentage-point) improvement between 2014 and 2017.

The police are the institution that the largest number of citizens report bribing to access services. Among those who had contact with key public services during the previous year, four in 10 say they paid a bribe to avoid problems with the police (42%) or to obtain police assistance (39%).

Six in 10 Ghanaians (61%) believe they risk retaliation or other negative consequences if they report incidents of corruption. Only one-third (34%) say they can report corruption without fear of retaliation (Figure 5).

Compared to 2017, there has been a 27-percentage-point drop in popular approval ratings of the government’s performance in fighting corruption – a dramatic reversal of earlier gains. Only a minority (40%) say the government is doing a “fairly” or “very” good job.