Former President John Agyekum Kufuor has warned that rising sophistication in society, notably in the period of science and technology, is deepening corrupt practices as people use intelligence and information of methods to evade accountability.
Speaking in an interview on the JoyNews AM Show, the previous president stated developments in science and technology have introduced vital progress to society however have additionally created new avenues for wrongdoing.
According to him, whereas innovation continues to refine methods and processes, not everybody makes use of their intelligence for optimistic functions.
Instead, some people exploit their brilliance to have interaction in corrupt actions and try and outsmart methods designed to make sure accountability.
“People may steal, commit wrongdoing and then try to get away with it through their smartness,” he famous.
Despite the persistence of corruption, Mr Kufuor argued that the general public’s response to it shouldn’t essentially be described as tolerance.
Rather, he described the state of affairs as resignation, the place residents really feel there is little they will do to vary unacceptable practices.
“To me, it is not tolerance. It is resignation. People feel they cannot find a way around the situation,” he stated.
Mr Kufuor harassed that society should proceed probing and trying to find efficient methods to reveal and cope with people who exploit methods for private acquire.
He additional recognized two main sources of corruption throughout the system, with poor remuneration in the general public sector being a key issue.
Using Ghana for instance, he famous that many extremely educated public officers, together with long-serving administrators in authorities ministries, earn salaries that don’t replicate their tasks or present financial realities.
Such officers, he stated, typically have households to help, together with kids whose schooling they have to fund, whereas additionally assembly social obligations inside prolonged household constructions.
In many circumstances, the revenue they earn is inadequate to fulfill these calls for, creating stress that may result in unethical practices.
He defined that some officers resort to bureaucratic delays, generally often known as crimson tape, notably when dealing with licensing and regulatory processes.
Applications that ought to take just a few days to course of might take a number of months, pushing pissed off candidates to supply inducements—popularly known as “brown envelopes”—to hurry up the method.
According to the previous president, the state of affairs has turn into widespread throughout numerous sectors, together with the police service, the courts, politics and even academia.
He added that low salaries amongst some legislation enforcement officers additionally make them susceptible to deprave practices.
Beyond remuneration points, Mr Kufuor stated the nation’s pure useful resource wealth has additionally contributed to corruption challenges.
Referring to Ghana’s mineral sources, he quoted a widely known political comment that the nation “sits on gold and yet remains poor,” highlighting the paradox between useful resource abundance and financial struggles.
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