Fruitlessness of Anti-Corruption Agencies

Lessons from the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice in Ghana

Dados Bibliográficos

ID2308554
AutoresKwame Asamoah (0000-0002-8331-8123, University of Ghana), Emmanuel Ababio Ofosu-Mensah (0000-0003-4376-1849, University of Ghana)
Ano2018
Volume53
Fascículo7
Páginas987-1001
Data de publicação2018-11-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoJournal of Asian and African Studies (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0021-9096 • E-ISSN: 1745-2538
EditoraSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/0021909618762575
OpenAlexW2794823241
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas4
Referências citadas48

Political corruption has become one of the most topical issues in the political discourse in Ghana. This stems from the fact that corruption has become so endemic and systemic in Ghanaian polity with its negative effects on the economy. Indeed, political corruption negatively affects job creation, investment potentials, infrastructural development and generally the standard of living of the people. It is within this context that anti-corruption institutions have been established in Ghana to address the menace of corruption. The Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) is one of such institutions established under the 1992 Republican Constitution of Ghana tasked with the responsibility of addressing the problem of corruption in Ghanaian public administration system. This paper examines the extent to which the Commission has achieved this constitutional mandate of addressing the problem of corruption. The study finds that some drawbacks which inhibit the potency of CHRAJ in addressing the problem of corruption include lack of political will by the governing elite to support the institution, eroding confidence of the Commission, the trend of appointing the Head of the Commission in an acting capacity, constitutional weaknesses, poor capacity building support and low motivation. The paper therefore offers pragmatic policy suggestions to address the inherent deficiencies of the Commission with the objective of making it more functional

Commission · Economic Justice · Human rights · Language change · Mandate · Political corruption · Political science · Politics · Polity · Corruption and Economic Development · Law, Economics, and Judicial Systems · Taxation and Compliance Studies · Law · Public Administration