A former National Chairman of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), Freddie Blay, has acknowledged the dangerous effects of corruption on the economy.
He, however, said it is a global phenomenon, thus Ghana is not an exception.
“I did say that corruption is a canker, it eats. Corruption is so pervasive and so harmful to our economy. About the third of whatever our GDP is, is lost to corruption. People could lose confidence in their own economy, that the only way to go about it is to find a very bad way of circumventing system, avoiding to pay taxes and so forth. It is not good. It distorts the economy. Corruption is not just typical to Ghana, I believe it’s all over the world and moreso, we the developing countries,” he said on Hot Issues with Keminni Amanor on January 14.
Mr. Blay was responding to a statement by former Chairman of the Electoral Commission, Dr Kwadwo Afari-Gyan.
Corruption is a canker but Akufo-Addo is fighting it with right policies – Freddie Blay
It would be recalled that Dr Afari-Gyan said during the Constitution Day Public Lecture organized by the University of Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA) Law School and the One Ghana Movement, that public institutions charged with the mandate to fight corruption are not doing enough.
“Over the years, we have become poorer as a nation and as a people, mainly due to pervasive corruption, particularly in the public sector. Unfortunately, some of our key public institutions are becoming institutions of dubious integrity. Increasingly, candidates who lose elections are alleging manipulations and refusing to accept the results,” Dr Afari-Gyan said.
He therefore called for measures to curb the menace.
I disagree that we have become poorer because of corruption – Freddie Blay responds to Afari-Gyan
Mr Freddie Blay, however, noted that although corruption needs to be curbed, Ghana cannot be said to be poorer because of the canker.
“That’s what Afari-Gyan has said. Corruption is a canker that we must all fight, but I disagree with him that we have become poorer. This country has not gone poorer. We are not rich, we are inching towards a middle income country among the comity of nations. So, in the first place he is wrong that this country has become poorer. We are not rich like the Singaporeans, we are not rich like the South Koreans or some other countries that you can mention, but we are definitely not poorer,” he stressed.
The current Chairman of the Board of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) lauded the efforts of the Akufo-Addo- led administration in fighting corruption.
He said although Ghana, like many other countries is suffering from the effects of corruption, the current government has been good at using policies to curb the canker.
“The government of Nana Addo-Dankwa Akufo-Addo, so far as I am concerned, has put in more efforts under the third and fourth republic, to fight corruption than any other government that I can think of. I am being sincere. How do you fight corruption? It’s not vowing to be a saint as an individual and therefore let people follow your examples. It is important for you as an individual, to set a good example, but the kind of institutions you put in place, the kind of policies you put in place. The policies, with emphasis, will fight corruption for you. Digitalization is one of them. The police have been empowered, the Judiciary has been empowered to the extent that they give them everything that they need,” he explained.