Police officers receive highest bribes in Ghana – Report
The 2022 corruption report on Ghana highlights the concerning issue of bribery within the country’s public sector. The report, conducted by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in collaboration with the Commission on Human Rights
and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) and the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS), reveals the prevalence of bribery among various public officials.
Police officers have been identified as the most susceptible to bribery, with a prevalence rate of 53.2 percent. This alarming statistic underscores the extent of corruption within law enforcement. Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) officers and Ghana
Revenue Authority (GRA) customs officers also ranked high on the list, with bribery rates of 37.4 percent and 33.6 percent, respectively.
Interestingly, elected government representatives exhibited a significantly lower prevalence of involvement in bribery, standing at only 2.9 percent.
Bribery within the country takes various forms, with cash being the most common, accounting for 84.8 percent of bribes paid. Food and drink, as well
as exchanging one public service for another, are less common forms of bribery. In rural areas, bribes in the form of food and drink are more frequent (17.8 percent) compared to urban areas (10.1 percent).
The total amount of cash bribes paid in Ghana is substantial, equivalent to almost one-third of the Ministry of Education’s 2021 budget. Urban areas
have higher cash bribes, with the average bribe amounting to Ghanaian cedi 348. In 2021 alone, around 17.4 million bribes were paid in Ghana, totaling roughly
Ghanaian cedi 5 billion in cash bribes to public officials annually, equivalent to 32.9 percent of the Ministry of Education’s 2021 budget.
