A survey conducted by the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) has revealed that Ghanaians do not think corruption could be eradicated in the country and that the canker has become part and parcel of the Ghanaian society.
The survey, which sampled 1500 people from all parts of the country, quoted 24% of them as saying that corruption is like DNA in the blood of Ghanaians.
At a forum to discuss the findings in Accra yesterday, Joseph Atsu-Ayee, Professor/Adjunct Senior Fellow at IEA said of the 1500 respondents, 60% and 40% were females and males respectively.
In the report, about 44% respondents said corruption could be reduced to a limited degree. About 19% argued that it could be substantially reduced, while 4.7% believed it could be eradicated completely.
Professor Atsu noted that, corruption attracts attention because of its debilitating and corrosive effects on politics, governance, economy, society and security. According to him, effort to bury corruption has not been successful because of how people understand the root cause of corruption.
"Strategies to curb corruption have failed, because we have misunderstood the roots of corruption. Understanding the root causes of corruption is key in dealing with corruption," he remarked.
He further noted that, the problem with Ghana had to do with the individual, citing that "Ghanaians are acquisitive and materialistic. If you want to live good, work for it."
His comment follows argument by some of the respondents that the corruption in the system was as a result of low salaries paid workers in the country. But the Professor debunked that assertion, saying "if you increase the salaries they will still be corrupt."
Ironically, the police are alleged to be the most corrupt institution in the country, but the survey revealed that Ghanaians still have confidence in them. According to the report, 87% of the respondents stated that they would report any case of corruption to the police before any other person or institution.
The survey, which was conducted amongst Ghanaians aged 18 and above indicated that 52% of the respondents got their information on corruption from the media. However, 35% of the respondents, between the ages of 18 and 24 said they would give bribe to make sure they got what they wanted.
At the same programme, Former Commissioner of the Commission for Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), Justice Emile Short, who was the chairman for the event, said corruption, seemed to have lost it stigmatization.
He said living good and living in poverty does not create room for corruption. "The poor can survive without corruption. Those surviving are rather those engaged in serious corruption," he noted.
He, therefore, kicked against the limitation of corruption to only bribery and that must also it includes embezzlement and others.
"Corruption arises when the systems are weak. So to fight corruption, there should be a robust system where leaders are able to work in the interest of the country," he opined.