2008 Assessment

This peer-reviewed country report includes:

Integrity Indicators Scorecard: Scores, scoring criteria, commentary, references, and peer review perspectives for more than 300 Integrity Indicators.

Reporter's Notebook: An on-the-ground look at corruption and integrity from a leading local journalist.

Corruption Timeline: Ten years of political context to today's corruption and integrity issues.

Country Facts: Statistical context for each country.

Ghana's overall performance has declined from its 2006 assessment, particularly in the areas of political financing, executive accountability, public access to information, and law enforcement. A Freedom of Information bill is still pending and has yet to be brought before parliament for consideration. The police are poorly compensated and "complaints about insufficient equipment for police work are common." Executive action has not been reviewed by the judiciary in recent years, while the boundaries between the government and ruling party activities are porus. Weak to non-existent whistle-blowing mechanisms continue to be a problem. However, there is positive news. Civil society organizations (CSOs) remain active in fighting corruption, while voting and citizen participation remain strong. In addition, the performance of the anti-corruption agency is well-regarded, as are oversight and regulatory institutions such as the audit agency and national ombudsman.