GRA, Gov�t Officials Top Corruption List

Officials of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) and Government have been named among the most corrupt institutions in the country. A recent Afrobarometer survey, released by the Center for Democratic Development (CDD), indicates that 85 percent of Ghanaians, representing, over twenty-one million people say officials of the GRA are corrupt. The Afrobarometer report further showed a 15 percentage point increase in perceived corruption among officials of the GRA. This news seems to support an earlier report by a regional advocacy organization, Borderless Alliance, which ranked the Customs Division of the GRA as the most corrupt security agency in Ghana. Government officials were named second most corrupt persons in Ghana with 86 percent; coming in after the Ghana Police Service, which was considered the most corrupt public institution with an 89 percent score. Judges and Magistrates, officials of the GRA, DCEs, the president and officials in his office, and local government representatives all scored 85 percent, 85 percent, 84 percent and 83 percent respectively. The rest are officials of the Electoral Commission which had 81 percent, whilst business executives, traditional leaders and religious leaders� scored 82 percent, 78 percent and 69 percent respectively. The survey was conducted between May and June 2014, and about 2400 respondents were asked to rate public institutions, including the GRA, as well as government officials and Members of Parliament. According to the survey, majority of Ghanaians perceive corruption in �some�, �most�, or �all� police officers, national government officials, and members of parliament, with a perception index of 89 percent, 86 percent and 85 percent respectively. In an interview with Business Day, the Project Manager in charge of Anglophone West Africa, Mr. Daniel Armah-Attoh said the citizens� perception of corruption over time had increased dramatically over the past decade. �A large majority of Ghanaians are of the opinion that corruption has increased compared to the previous year�. He added that there is an equally growing perception that government has performed poorly in fighting the canker, which is fast corroding the moral fiber of some major institutions such as the GRA. Mr. Armah-Attoh counseled that it will be prudent for government to probe further on why a large number of citizens perceive an important institution such as the GRA as corrupt since it could affect domestic revenue generation. The results of the round six Afrobarometer survey focused on trust and perceived corruption in Ghana�s public institutions. According to the survey, 75 per cent of Ghanaians also think corruption has increased over the past year. On trust, 56 percent of Ghanaians revealed they have confidence in the Ghana Armed Forces far more than any other institution in the country. Many have attributed Government�s inability to meet its domestic revenue targets to a growing perception of the corrupt nature of officials in the state owned agencies as well as within the government. Recent figures released by the Bank of Ghana in the last quarter of this year showed that Ghana missed its targeted revenue for the period of January to September 2014 by GH�700 million, from a projected figure of GH�18.4 billion, representing 16 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).