CAMBRIDGE PAPER ON CORRUPTION

THE ROLE OF THE PRESS TOWARDS THE FIGHT AGAINST CORRUPTION IN GHANA’S 4TH REPUBLIC













A PAPER PRESENTED TO THE WOLFSON COLLEGE PRESS FELLOWSHIP PROGRAMME, UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE, JANUARY – MARCH 2006








BY STEPHEN SAH, DAILY GRAPHIC, ACCRA, GHANA









Pages
CONTENTS 2


ACKNOWLEDGEMENT 3


LIST OF ACRONYMS 4


CHAPTER ONE

1. Introduction 5
2. Objectives of study and methodology 5
3. Working Definitions 6
4. Conceptual/theoretical framework 7

CHAPTER TWO

5. Evolution of the media in Ghana 10
6. A diagnostic and historical account of corruption in Ghana 13

CHAPTER THREE

7. Presentation of data 16
8. Analysis of data 19

CHAPTER FOUR

9. The role of the media in combating corruption 25
10. Conclusion 27
11. References 29








ACKNOWLEDGEMENT


This work has been the result of my 10-week press fellowship programme at the Wolfson College, University of Cambridge. It gives an insight into how corruption issues are given media coverage, especially in Ghana’s Fourth Republic. It also gives hints as to how the media can effectively combat corruption.


The text is based on analysis of newspaper contents and the review of some theoretical underpinnings of corruption. I must indicate that this work would not have been possible without the support of the Wolfson Press Fellowship Programme and in fact my sponsors, the Anglo American Plc. The contents are entirely my own views and do not expressly reflect the views of either the programme or my sponsors. Therefore, I am solely responsible for any shortcomings contained herein.


I acknowledge my enormous gratitude to Mrs Hillary Pennington, the Administrator of the programme for her indefatigable support and also making sure that my welfare became her concern.


To Prof John Naughton and Bill Kirkman, what else can I say but to thank you for the wonderful manner you treated the press fellows.


Last but not in the least, I am greatly indebted to my supervisor, Professor Christopher Clapham of the African Studies Centre, University of Cambridge for painstakingly supervising my project. To him I say that I have learnt a great deal.


I also appreciate the immense support and co-operation from my colleague press fellows namely Mr Michael Peel and Ms Lara Pawson, both from the UK and Mr Aziz Jan from Pakistan and also the house mates of Norton House, without whom life would have been boring.





LIST OF ACRONYMS
ADB Agricultural Development Bank
AFRC Armed Forces Revolutionary Council
CAGD Controller and Accountant General Department
CDRs Committee for the Defence of the Revolution
CEPS Customs Excise and Preventive Service
CHRAJ Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice
CIB Castle Information Bureau
CPI Corruption Perception Index
CPP Convention Peoples Party
FBI Federal Bureau of Investigations
GBC Ghana Broadcasting Corporation
GCB Ghana Commercial Bank
GES Ghana Education Service
GII Ghana Integrity Initiative
GJA Ghana Journalists Association
GNPC Ghana National Petroleum Corporation
HIPC Heavily Indebted Poor Countries
ID Identity Card
IFC International Financial Corporation
KMA Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly
MDAs Ministries Departments and Agencies
MDC Movement for Democratic Change
NDC National Democratic Congress
NLC National Liberation Council
NMC National Media Commission
NRC National Redemption Council
PDCs Peoples Defence Committees
PNDC Provisional National Defence Council
PNP Peoples National Party
NPP New Patriotic Party
SFO Serious Fraud Office
SMC Supreme Military Council
TI Transparency International
WDCs Workers Defence Committees








CHAPTER ONE
1. Introduction
This essay focuses on the Ghanaian press’ critical role of promoting good governance and controlling corruption to sustain Ghana’s fledging democracy. The responsibilities of the press include raising public awareness about corruption, its causes, consequences and possible remedies. It is importantly to point that the press does this by investigating and reporting incidences of corruption.

Backed with examples, this paper examines whether the media has successfully exposed corruption, prompted investigations by official bodies, and reinforced the work and legitimacy of both parliament or government and anti-corruption agencies. It will also give due consideration to how the media can be strengthened to fight the canker.

An examination of the problem of corruption, according to David Burnham (1977), shows that major sustained efforts to control it have almost always required an outside stimulus which is provided by the media. It is for this reason that this study is considered relevant in a country like Ghana.
This is more so because the press as a tool for development is advancing in its traditional role of entertaining, educating and informing the people on current topical issues to help them to make informed choices.

Corruption has accounted for the collapse of many democracies in the third world, particularly Africa with Ghana being no exception. In fact, the link between Third World underdevelopment and poverty on the one hand and corruption on the other has been widely acknowledged by development experts or theorists.

2. Objectives of study and methodology
The objective of this methodology is to produce a study of corruption in the Ghanaian media with a focus not only on the prevalence of corruption, but some of the legal and institutional structures and policies to combat it, if any, that have come from government after such reports. Specifically, this study sets out to find:

Whether there have been sufficient media exposures of corruption published in the past three months, the nature of these exposures and those involved?
Whether these exposures were serious attempts to root out corruption or not?
Whether there is any relationship between ownership of newspaper and the nature of stories carried,
What was the effect of these exposures with regard to public attitude, legislative reform, and/or judicial administrative action? and
5 How the press can effectively combat corruption in Ghana.


Basically, the research design draws upon a content analysis of five different newspaper sources, namely The Ghanaian Chronicle, Daily Graphic, Ghana Palaver, Daily Guide and Statesman over a three-month period from September to November 2005.

This was to provide a broad spectrum about the issue under study and also to avoid any biases. This is essential because the newspapers are perceived to be State-owned (Daily Graphic), pro-government (Statesman), and (Daily Guide), anti-government (Palaver), and neutral (Chronicle).

The selection of the newspapers was also done against the background that at the time of the study they were the highly patronized in terms of readership and circulation. In the case of the Graphic, for instance, it is also reputed to be very credible among the lot and the widely circulated.

3. Working definitions


Press refers to the conventional print medium of news presentation (newspapers) but throughout this paper the terms print media, papers, media and press will be used interchangeably to convey the same meaning.

Corruption is difficult to define and according to the collated works of the 7th International Anti-Corruption Confab (1996), whole papers have been devoted to this subject alone (Peters and Welch, 1978; Johnson, 1968; Gibbons, 1990; Heidenheimer, Johnson and Le Vive, 1990 and Gardiner, 1993). However writers analyzing the different definitions of corruption, for example (Scott, 1972; Peters and Welch, 1978; Malec and Gardiner, 1987; Dolan, McKeon and Carlson, 1988) have categorized definitions into three types: These are (1) Legal corruption and this is where one’s behaviour violates set down rules and political system; (2) Public interest corruption is the situation whereby corruption exists if public trust or good is betrayed and (3) Public opinion corruption is the situation whereby corruption is socially defined. Although some writers believe that these types do overlap rather than mutually exclusive this study will work within the framework of definitions provided by:

Transparency International – The abuse of power… behaviour on the part of officials in the public sector, whether politicians or civil servants, in which they improperly and unlawfully enrich themselves, or those close to them, by the misuse of the public power entrusted to them. This includes embezzlement of funds, theft of corporate or public property, bribery, extortion or influence peddling.

The Convention Against Transnational Organised Crime , Article 8 – The promise, offering or giving to a public official directly or indirectly of an undue advantage for the official himself or herself or another person or entity, in order that the official acts or refrains from acting in the exercise of their official duties.




4. Conceptual or theoretical framework

Concepts or theories are foundations for any human action and according to Ocquaye (2004), both in the physical and social sciences, cause and effect of human behaviour should have conceptual underpinnings. For this reason, various concepts that explain corruption would be examined.
In an introduction to ‘Corruption and Development in Africa’ that they edited, Hope, Sr, and Chikulo (2000) observed that although the incidence of corruption varies among African countries, ranging from rare (Bostwana) to widespread (Ghana) to systemic (Nigeria), the majority of the countries are in the range of widespread to systemic.

According to them, where it is rare, it is relatively easy to detect and control but at the other extreme the likelihood of detection and control is somewhat minimal as an incentive and further practices are put in place to perpetuate the system.

Available literatures on corruption have assigned various factors as being responsible for its pervasiveness whether in America, Asia or Africa. Fijnaut and Hubert (2002), Alatas (1990) and Hope, Sr, (2000), have cited socio-cultural and economic and political factors; Syed (1990), cited colonial rule, expansion in state activity managed by a rapidly increasing bureaucracy, the gift and kinship solidarity while Nkembe (2003), also cited poor remuneration to workers, rigid bureaucratic procedures and existing social networks as causes of corruption.

Syed (1968) further identifies poverty, absence of severe punitive measures, absence of environment conducive to anti-corrupt behaviour and the structure of government as the other underlying factors.
He argues that three phenomena namely bribery, extortion and nepotism and a common thread running through corruption is the subordination of public interest to private aims involving a violation of norms of duty and welfare accompanied by secrecy, betrayal, deception and a callous disregard for any consequence suffered by the public.

It must be stated that there is always more than one person involved in corruption which is carried out in secrecy except in situations where it is rampant. Syed further states that there is an element of mutual obligation and mutual benefit associated with corruption while those involved usually camouflage their activities by resorting to some form of justifications and avoid open clash with the law.
The Warioba Commission appointed by President Nkapa to investigate the ‘State of corruption’ in Tanzania also identified in the case of petty corruption that those who receive bribes do so as result of their meagre incomes and low standard of living - and what they receive only helps make ends meet.
In contrast, the report said the second type of corruption involve(s) high level leaders and public servants whose involvement is as a result of excessive greed for wealth accumulation and money.

According to Syed, colonial rule in India provided the vistas for corruption in the sense that the indigenous people popularly regarded cheating on the British government as patriotic and this had a carry-over effect after independence.
Probably this explanation relates to the nationalist activities in Ghana which precipitated the 1948 riots by the retired war veterans and even presently beliefs held by people that anything which belonged to the government literally has no owner and anybody can dip their hands into them.

Wraith and Simpkins were quoted by Shaidi (1975) to criticize the fact that colonialism could not be a factor for corruption since the colonial administration never won the affection of the people. To them, if that is the case then the people are supposed to be related to indigenous governments and not turn their backs to them.

Syed further states that the expansion of the state activity managed by a rapidly increasing bureaucracy in Asia did not make them distinguish between private and public duties and often between private and public resources. Because of this failure, he asserts that corruption developed.

Related to the above could be the fact that in developing countries, there is rapid increase in the number of civil servants because government has been the largest employer. By virtue of this, there is chronic low pay and this makes people to think that a second source of income is necessary.

This argument has been criticized and Shaidi (1975) states that low wages is out of the issue because presidents, managers and the like who rule their countries and enterprises would not have resorted to corruption while developed countries would not have experienced it because their citizens are relatively paid well.

Many people in Ghana, for instance, hold the view that corruption is rooted in culture in the form of gift-giving. Consider this scenario provided by Adomako Appiah Kusi, in an article to the Ghanaian Chronicle (2005-12-31) relating to gift and corruption “…For instance, a business person giving an excessive amount of money as a wedding gift to the son of one of the most influential government officials. His money was literally a wedding gift. However, shortly after the wedding, the business person informs this government dignitary indirectly that he needs a permit to expand his business. Gift or bribe? Formally, the money was a wedding gift, but, informally, it may be interpreted as a bribe for his business”.

He continues “Take also a tribunal chairman or judge transferred to a new duty station. He gets there on Friday afternoon and the next day, someone comes to his house and presents a fattened cow or sheep to him as a welcome gift. The first day he commences duty at the bench, there is a boy charged of stealing. Later in the course of the trial the judge realizes the boy is the son of the man who bestowed him his gift. Can the trial be fair? In an era where right and wrong appear to be relative it important that we know what is gift and bribery”.

Syed (1990) lends credence to this and said the gift and kinship solidarity in Asia was related to corruption. However, Maus (1967), who investigated the issue of gift-giving in various societies, said gift-giving had several aims – excluding the acquisition of wealth in the modern sense.

According to Maus, gift-giving was to establish good relations, to show one’s prestige, to meet religious requirements and to express various means of symbolic behaviour.
Gift is different from bribe but there is no doubt that there is the element of obligation involved and the meaning one could deduce from Maus’ is that gift wounds the receiver.

Hope, Sr, points out that socio-cultural norm may be difficult to grasp in African context since such norms remain very influential forces in day-to-day African life. He said they often determine, for example, who is appointed to jobs, who is promoted, who wins government contracts and so on.

In other words, he asserts that they have a great deal to do with the organization of life, in general, and they are a major source of nepotism and corruption in public life.
He quoted (Schleifer and Vishny, 1993; Mauro, 1995) to demonstrate that there is no
stigma attached to corruption and that an index of ethno linguistic fractionalization (social divisions along ethnic and linguistic lines) is correlated with corruption.

Alatas (1990) also argues that the influence of the extended family, and tribal or family loyalties and commitments, often lead to corruption. He posits that in African countries, there is the notion that people’s identification and relationship with the state and its institutions are much weaker than identification and relationship with the family.
To Alatas, nepotism may derive from age-old customs leading to the development of relationships based on ‘connections’, custom and power and may explain the aetiological connection between gift and bribe.

The next chapter gives a historical background of evolution of the media in Ghana and a diagnostic account of corruption since independence.










CHAPTER TWO

EVOLUTION OF THE MEDIA, A DIAGNOSITC AND HISTORICAL
ACCOUNT OF CORRUPTION IN GHANA.

This chapter attempts a historical background of the evolution of the press in Ghana vis-à-vis a diagnostic and a historical account of the nature and scale of corruption since Ghana’s independence in 1957 and the methods and remedies for combating corruption. The role of the press in fighting the canker in those periods is also essential for an understanding of the nature of the issue.

5. HOW THE MEDIA EVOLVED IN GHANA

This section is looking at the history of the press from the 19th Century to date. The evolution of the media in Ghana is as chequered as its political history because by the end of the 19th Century, according to Austin (1970), some 19 papers limited in circulation to a few hundred but of high standard of journalistic writing had existed at one time or another.
What accounted for this was that these papers were perceived to be radical against the colonial administrators or post colonial governments which saw the attacks on them as petrifying.

To muzzle the press, the colonial government had to pass the Book and Newspapers Registration Ordinance in 1889 to prevent newspapers from criticizing skewed and unpopular colonial policies. The ordinance sought to ensure the compulsory registration of all books and newspapers published or in publication at the time in the country.

Ghana’s first newspaper in the 19th Century was the Royal Gold Coast Gazette and Commercial Intelligence which appeared in hand written in 1822. It was, in fact, the official colonial paper set up by the first Governor to the Gold Coast, Charles McCarthy to serve as the mouthpiece of the then colonial authority.

However the first regular and African-owned newspaper which was wholly produced in the country was James Hutton Brew’s The Gold Coast Times (1874) and later his Western Echo (1885-1887) after which several other papers such as the Accra Herald (later West Africa Herald) (1857), Gold Coast Times (1884), and Gold Coast Methodist (1885) which also later became Gold Coast Methodist Times. Other papers at the time included Christian Messenger and Examiner and Christian Reporter. There was a paper in vernacular (Ga), Sika Nsona Sanegbalo meaning Gold Coast Storyteller or Gold Coast narrator of matters, Gold Coast Chronicle (1890), Gold Coast People (1891), Gold Coast Independent (1895) and a host of others.

According to Quartey-Jones (1974), conditions during this period were a mixture of successes and failures, with long lives and short ones among the newspapers. “One or two of these…lived for only one issue and then gave up the ghost after that mighty effort”, (Ibid, page 15).

The paper which blazed the trail during the early 20th Century was the Gold Cost Leader (1902) which lasted through the first three and significant decades of this century, each of which saw far-reaching changes in the political, social, economic and educational fortunes of the Gold Coast (Ibid, II, page 2).

Quartey-Jones further asserts that the period 1890 to 1930 could be called “a golden age in Gold Coast political leadership and journalism and the short span of 1930 and 1937 being the most turbulent and most exciting in the history of the Gold Coast press up to then”. There was also the Gold Coast Guardian, the Times (1931), Gold Coast Observer (1932), Ashanti Pioneer (1939), Ashanti Times (1947), Accra Evening News (1948), Daily Graphic (1950), and Daily Mail (1955).

The 1888 Newspaper Ordinance was modified later in 1950, 1952 and 1954 but virtually remained the same since journalists such as Namdzi Azikwe and Wallace Johnson were prosecuted under the amended Seditious Ordinance Law in 1936-1937.
It is important to note that the press’ contribution to the fight for independence was enormous because it propagated the people’s sentiments and that of politicians like Dr J.B. Danquah and others who used the press to push for self rule.

Realising the enormous power of the press, especially towards the independence struggle it was not for any reason that Dr Nkrumah, for instance, set up the Evening News to achieve or enhance his political ambitions.
Although there was no explicit legislation that guaranteed press freedom in Ghana after independence, the 1960 Republican Constitution under Article 13 (1) made a provision which related generally to freedom of religion or speech and to assembly. The 1969 constitution, however, introduced explicit provisions for press freedom under Article 22.

The 1979 constitution explicitly prohibited the enactment of any laws requiring licensing for publishing newspapers and introduced the Press Commission which was empowered to take measures to preserve press freedom, and protect journalists (particularly state-owned press) from external interference, among others.

In fact this was intended to or expected to bring to an end many years of governmental control of the state-owned media and remove restrictions over the independent press but this again whittled out after the overthrow of the democratically-elected People’s National Party (PNP) government under Dr Hilla Liman by Flt Lt Jerry Rawlings in December 1981.

After Rawlings’ December 1981 coup, the third republican constitution was suspended and the media suffered terrifyingly because of arrests and threats on journalists under the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC) regime. For instance, the Free Press, a newspaper which was critical of the flagrant human rights abuses by the government was closed down in 1983.

The operation of the press under the PNDC government according to Karikari (in Ninsin) was conditioned by the authoritarian political environment, the wide discretionary or interventionist powers of the office of the Secretary (Minister) for Information and the Newspaper Licensing Law (PNDCL 211) which gave legal backing to and systemized the arbitrariness inherent in the regime. A Castle Information Bureau (CIB) was also set up to combine oversight and elements of censorship and policing of the press (Ibid, 193).

Some journalists suffered at the hands of the PNDC government, notably Kwesi Pratt Jnr, Kweku Baako and others who were imprisoned at various times. There were also times that some newspapers had their offices vandalised and sprayed with human excreta because of their criticism of the regime.
Even under the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government, which is an offshoot of the PNDC, the media suffered considerably and that seriously impinged on its electoral defeat during the 2000 general elections. Journalists could be picked up from studios of television stations and locked up for just criticizing the government.

The NDC had an unterrupted two term in office as a government from 1992-2000 and during this period the media exposed most corrupt practices by officials in government leading to investigations and the subsequent issue of a government white paper, the recommendations of which were not heard of again.
Therefore, when the New Patriotic Party (NPP), which came to power on the back of the media took over the reins of government in 2000, it fulfilled its election promise and expunged from the statutes books the criminal libel law which tended to discourage press freedom and investigative journalism.

The 1992 constitution made provisions for press freedom and paved way for the creation of institutions such as the National Media Commission (NMC), which is tasked with improving upon performance of the media.

Karikari explains that the effect of the movement for political liberalisation on the position of the press was considerable and opened up the political space well enough for the press to function and although there was no comprehensive and reliable record on the number of newspapers and magazines licensed during 1990-93, about 34 of such existed between 1991 and 1993.
He said altogether about 40 such papers were published between 1991 and the November-December general elections of 1992. A further 15-20 newspaers, he said, were started from mid 1991 but later ceased operation.

It must be put on record that although the press enjoyed much freedom under the NPP government victims of press attacks regularly resorted to the courts to seek redress.This resulted in numerous libel suits against newspapers some of which suffered huge financial damages. Some of these, it was believed, were intended to collapse the papers involved because they could not pay the huge fines.
Maybe, this goes to reinforce the point by Ninsin that there is no government, if it gets the chance, would not control the mass media, and that it is up to the judiciary to be courageous and protect the public interest.










6. HISTORICAL AND DIAGNOSTIC ACCOUNT OF CORRUPTION IN GHANA

Corruption has repeatedly been cited by the country’s military as reason for seizing political power. Corruption has become an endemic problem in Ghana and has played a debilitating role in not denting the legitimacy of government but also retarding development, Asibuo (1991).
Indeed, all the military take-overs in Ghana had cited corruption in the form of nepotism, bribery, embezzlement and the abuse of office in both the public and private sectors of the economy as their main reasons for overthrowing democratically elected governments.
Ever since Ghana gained her independence there has been lots of talk and complaints about the problem of political and administrative corruption but press or media coverrage of it has been far from an easy task.

Le Vine (1975) said it remained undiminished six years after the collapse of the Nkrumah regime that the country’s leading newspapers and journals were still filled with reports of corruption and discussions of causes, effects, and cures; and the Busia government, which succeeded the National Liberation Council (NLC), appointed its own special commission to look into the problem in its broad aspects; and no week pased in which the Ghanaian officials at all levels of government, religious leaders and heads of other organisations, and various publicist… failed to discuss the matter of corruption andcaution or preach againsy it.

Succesive governments, whether military juntas or democratically elected, produced several allegations of grand corruption, theft of public property, cronyism and other illicit acts of governance against their predecessors. For instance, the NLC, after overthrowing the Nkrumah government in 1966, suspended developemnt projects, released political detainees and investigated acts of corruption in Nkrumah’s government.

The military’s image as a champion of public morality, according to Le Vine, however suffered one rather sharp setback after the coup when in April 1969 it was revealed that no less a person than the Chairman of the NLC, Gen Joseph Ankrah, had wittingly sanctioned a covert collection of moneys on his behalf for his own candidacy as president. An embarrassed NLC forced Gen Ankrah to resign and he was replaced by Brig. Gen. A . A . Afrifa.

The level of corruption in the state reached such alarming levels that the new NLC after several agitations had to be placed through national elections in 1969 which brought the Progress Party to power under the leadership of Dr Kofi Abrefa Busia. Busia’s government also suffered from the same accusations of corruption and was subsequently overthrown in another military coup in 1972 led by Colonel I.K.Acheampong as head of state.

Colonel Acheampong’s National Redemption Council (NRC) incurred the displeasure of Ghanaians prompting people including students to go on strikes and demonstrations. Facing imminent danger, Acheampong reacted by dissolving the NRC and replacing it with the Supreme Military Council (SMC). But that did not solve the problem and some of its members embarked upon a palace coup to throw out Colonel Acheampong’s SMC replacing it with SMC II..

In June 1979 Flt Lt J.J.Rawlings entered the political scene through yet another military junta to form the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC). Rawlings’ AFRC thought that corruption and graft were the major causes of Ghana’s economic and political crises and therefore provided the catalyst for the army mutiny of June 4,1979. Although the AFRC did not complete its ‘house cleaning’ mission it handed over power to a democratically elected government of Dr Hilla Liman’s PNP after elections held on June 18 that year.

Not satisfied with the turn of events in the country after handing over to Dr Liman, Rawlings accused the government of gross corruption and economic stagnation after overthrowing it on December 1981. That Ayee (1994) said was after corruption had got to a head with the national chairman of the PNP, Okutwer Bekoe, being implicated in a bribery scandal involving the receipt of moneys from South African sources.

This time Rawlings’ government, the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC) when it took over, tasked itself to impose a new system of justice by establishing the People’s Defence Committees (PDCs) and Workers Defence Committees (WDCs) to check corruption. These instutitions were later renamed Committees for the Defence of the Revolution (CDRs) in order to bring them under some degree of control since they were getting out of control.

The PNDC, which metamorphosed into the National Democratic Congress (NDC) party and won the 1992 general elections constituted the Consultative Assembly to draw up the 1992 Constitution. The Constitution included a Code of Conduct for public officers to check widespread belief in corruption and official wrongdoing. Captured under chapter 24, the code covers conflict of interest, declaration of assets and liabilities, and an institution to handle complaints about contravention but there has been a problem with enforcement and implementation of the code up to date.

With the return to democratic rule in 1992, the NDC government repealed the Newspaper Licensing Law to pave way for the establishment of independednt media, most of who embarked on a campaign to eradicate corruption .
The Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) and Serious Fraud Office (SFO) were established in line with the 1992 Constitution to respectively handle issues relating to maladministration and malfeasance and the promotion of human rights and investigation of cases of financial loss to the state or any state organization and any organization in which the state has interest.

The NPP government, like all its predecessors also embarked upon a massive investigation of the NDC government some of whose functionaries were tried by the Fast Track Courts ( their establishment generated lots of opposition and litigation in the court) and sentenced to various terms of imprisonment. A few others including Tsatsu Tsikata, former Chief Executive of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC), are still standing trial for allegedly causing financial loss to the state.

President Kufuor in July 2003 fulfilled his election promise of zero tolerance for corruption by setting up the Office of Accountability in the Presidency. The office was mandated to ensure accountable stewardship, honest and transparent service delivery and avoidance of any practices that could be perceived as corrupt.
However, the public and various anti-corruption agencies have accused the government of corruption and not making any serious attempts to address the problem. This, maybe, reached its apogee, especially when allegations and media reports became rife that President Kufuor had been engaged in a hotel purchase.

The Ghanaian media broke the strory in mid 2005 that President Kufuor was involved in that hotel deal. What generated the alleged scandal was that the hotel in question was situated or shared a boundary with the President’s private residence. Months later after the exposure, the Chief of Staff and Minister of Presidential Affairs, Kwadwo Mpiani denied in a statement to the media that the President had not sought to buy any hotel. Earlier, however, the Press Secretary to the President, Kwabena Agyepong had indicated that the acquisition of the hotel which was near the President’s private residence was intended for a hotel by Chief Kufuor, son of the President, as purely a private transaction.

The next chapter presents the data and their analysis.







CHAPTER THREE


This chapter is devoted to presentation of data. It is necessary to point out that the study focused on how corruption issues are reported by the Ghanaian media with a focus on selected newspapers namely Daily Graphic, Ghanaian Chronicle, Daily Guide, Palaver and Statesman for a three-month period from September to November 2005.

Basically there were no special criteria for selecting stories and therefore all stories relating to corruption were covered. Distinction was not made between general corruption cases such as comments on the issue by people, corruption reports from foreign countries and feature articles and specific corruption reports. These stories were mostly intended as commentaries and a comparison of the Ghanaian situation.
Other stories were used to make analysis of election results, especially bye-elections in which the ruling party lost.

There are also specific reports on alleged cases of individual corruption either by politicians or public office holders such as civil/public servants. Such reports are very likely to be most effective in controlling corruption because of their impact on the general reputation of those involved and their relations with political parties or their office. The implications of these shall be dealt with in my analysis.
The presentation is done according to the number of stories published with dates, the category within which the stories fall and nature, which I grouped as political, public/civil service, private sector and others.




7. PRESENTATION OF DATA


THE DAILY GRAPHIC
The Daily Graphic is published by Graphic Communications Group Ltd. which also publishes the Mirror, Graphic Sports, Graphic Showbiz and Junior Graphic. Graphic Communications Group Ltd. is Ghana's leading Newspaper Publisher. Although state-owned, the organization can be said to be independent of any governmental control and is not under government subvention. It has as a policy to propagate the views of the state and its development.
Graphic Communications Group Ltd. does not only publish Ghana's leading newspapers, it also publishes books, makes exercise books and labels for Ghanaian and foreign products.

Corruption stories published by Graphic according to dates:
September: 2, 5, 12, 17, 19, 27, 29, 30 = 8
October: 1, 11, 18, 19, 19, 20 = 6
November: 1, 1, 8, 14, 16 = 5
Total stories for period = 19


Category and nature of report:

Political: President Obasanjo submits to bribery probe; Auditor-General clears Addo-Kufuor, MP and Minister of Defence; President Mbeki on African Peer Review and corruption, CHRAJ says Report on President Kufuor’s alleged involvement in hotel purchase is ready; Ghanaian Speaker of Parliament urges African governments to deal with corruption.

Public/Civil service: 200 million cedis fraud exposed - GES official on the run; Parliament to summon MDAs before its Public Accounts Committee over the loss of 243.44 billion cedis; Five Forestry Commission officials fired for fraudulent deals; Three held over fraud at Controller and Accountant General Dept (CAGD); Return of 757 million cedis stolen from CAGD by an official; Another fraudulent deal of 702 million cedis exposed at CAGD; another 2.2 billion cedis scandal rocks CAGD ; more revelations at CAGD.

Private sector: Bank fraud of 130 million cedis involving a staff of the ADB; GCB staff in court for stealing money belonging to customers.

Others: A feature article on corruption and African development, story on worst corruption offenders in the world; panelists call for a ruthless approach to fighting corruption in Africa.



GHANAIAN CHRONICLE

The Ghanaian Chronicle is an independent newspaper set up by Nana Kofi Coomson, a renowned Ghanaian journalist. Published by Chronicle Media Limited this paper which comes out three times a week was set up to fight the wrongs in the society during the military regimes especially the PNDC and has greatly contributed immensely to the development of the Ghanaian economy. It has not diverted or changed its policy of fighting societal ills and is seen by many people as remaining neutral to its policy of non alignment.

Number of stories in September according to dates: 6, 7, 8, 14, 21 = 5
October: 7, 12, 19 = 3
November: 3, 8 = 2
Total: 10

Category and nature of report:

Political: Minister of Roads and Transport cited in loot at KMA; Minority Leader slams government on corruption; Minister of Defence cited in KMA loot; Western Regional Minister in 100 million cedis bribery scandal; Presidential aspirant says he would be brutal on corruption.

Public/Civil Service: Law School director probe told that 3.8 billion cedis HPIC cash paid for books not supplied; Illegal withdrawal of cheques at GBC;

Others: Transparency International report says corruption worsens in Ghana than Nigeria; Financial Times of London’s November report on corruption.


GHANA PALAVER

The Ghana Palaver is a bi-weekly newspaper published by Revalap Publishers and Suppliers Ltd. It used to be a pro-government newspaper during the NDC regime propagating the government’s policies. Currently it has shifted it paradigm to anti-government because the mantle of leadership has changed and its managers are out of power. It has been waging a crusade against the government in terms of its stories published.


Number of stories in September according to dates: 6-8, 9-12, 13-15 = 3
October: 7-10 = 1
November: nil
Total: 4

Category and nature of report:

Political: Sefwi Wiawso under - siege queen turns down 100 million cedis government bribe of; a front page commentary comparing Presidents Kufuor and Obasanjo on corruption; son of President Kufuor cited in another deal involving $38 million for a national ID project, and a bye election analysis linked to hardships and lies of ruling government.





DAILY GUIDE
The Daily Guide is an independent newspaper published by Western Publications Ltd and is related to a leading politician in the minority opposition CPP. However the paper has recently been seen as belonging to the right and devoting itself to promoting the policies of the ruling government. This can be explained by the fact that the politician even though belongs to the minority political parties has aligned himself with the ruling government. The paper seems to be breaking the front of the opposition especially the largest opposition NDC party.

Number of stories in September according to dates: 2, 28 = 2
October: 19, 28 = 2
November: Nil
Total: 4


Category and nature of report:

Political: Vice President not in deal; more Abacha loot found; Ghana stands still in corruption index; Kufuor cleared of dollar gift.


STATESMAN
The Statesman is an independent rightist newspaper published by Statesman Communication Company Ltd. When the current government assumed the reins of power it turned out to be a pro-government paper propagating its policies. It was owned by a prominent politician in the ruling government but it seems to be under a new management which holds the same policy as its predecessor. It is a bi-weekly newspaper.

Number of stories in September according to date: 1 = 1
October: 30 = 1
November: nil
Total: 2


Category and nature of report:

Political: $25 million internet fraud story involving Vice Presidents of Ghana and Nigeria and a US congressman; corruption is systemic but NPP is better- according to two reports.




8. ANALYSIS OF DATA


This section is devoted to the analysis of issues raised and which is common to either all of the newspapers or any of them. This will be done against the backdrop of the following objectives:

(1) Whether there have been sufficient media exposures of corruption
published in the past three months and what was the nature of these exposures and those involved?
(2) Were the stories serious attempts to root out corruption or not?
(3) What was the effect of these exposures with regard to public
attitude, legislative reform, and/or judicial administrative action?
Whether there is any relationship between ownership of newspaper
and the nature of stories carried.


The issue of whether there have been sufficient media exposure and the nature of the stories had been addressed already in the preceding chapter, therefore, what will be done in this section is to analyse the relationship between media ownership and the nature of stories carried. This is, of course, with recourse to issues which are either common to all the papers or some of them.
Furthermore, consideration will be given to whether the stories were serious attempts to root out corruption and the effect of the exposures with regard to public attitude, legislative reform, and or judicial administrative action.

The Chronicle and Palaver both reported on a similar story bordering on a chieftaincy issue in the Western Region of the Country. The Chronicle’s story (September 21, 2005) bore the headline “Minister in 100 million cedis bribery scandal - Western Regional Minister Joseph Boahene Aiddo accused. The paper reported that the queen of the Sefwi Wiawso Traditional Area was paid that bribe by the minister in order for her to rescind her decision to destool the paramount chief.
The Palaver also carried the same story ( September 9 – 12, 2005) under the headline “Sefwi Wiawso under siege- Queen turns down 100 million cedis government bribe and according to the story the Ashanti Regional Minister Mr S.K Boafo attempted to bribe the queen and the rest of the story did not have any bearing on the headline. The various papers sort of slanted their stories basically to link the chieftaincy issue to politics. This goes to explain how far politics has gone, especially when the area is considered to be an NDC stronghold.

Press reportage on the Transparency International Corruption Index was also reported by almost all the papers under study. The Chronicle report of October 9, 2005 was under the heading “Corruption, Ghana worsens and Nigeria improves” while the Daily Guide reported on the same day under the heading “Ghana stands still on corruption index”.

The Statesman carried the story in its issue of October 28-30, 2005 under the heading “Corruption is systemic but NPP is better – Two surveys show”.
The contents of all the stories were, in fact, the same except that the papers embellished them depending on their policy or allegiance to the government by using certain words and adjectives in contrast of the NDC government. This is where, maybe, the issue of ownership comes to play.

It was obvious that stories carried by the Chronicle, for instance, were basically political stories which were either against government officials or political figures in the opposition except two stories on the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) impasse of stolen money and the Committee of Enquiry into affairs of the former director of the Ghana School of Law.

In the case of the Palaver which is perceived to be the mouthpiece of the opposition NDC, the stories were very critical and hard hitting on the government and at times the contents of the stories had no bearings to the headlines.
It is indicative to know that the Daily Guide, perceived to be a pro-government paper did not report on any meaningful specific corruption stories and the few which were reported were actually limited to what I will term as ‘damage repair stories’ to debunk what had been written by the other papers. Typical examples go like“Veep not in $25 million deal” and “Kufuor cleared of $250,000 gift”.

These were stories linking the Vice President of Ghana; Alhaji Aliu Mahama to a business deal of $25 million with US Congressman William Jefferson and Nigerian Vice President Alhaji Abubarkar Atiku.
The Congressman led a delegation to Ghana in July 2005 with the promise to invest the money to establish a project to provide a super highway Internet services. The deal was reportedly investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI). The story was actually played down.

In the report on President Kufuor, he was alleged to have given a bribe of $25,000 to the Zimbabwean opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) when its leader Morgan Tsvangirai visited Ghana.

Daily Guide reported that the President had been cleared of the allegation just because the Minister of Information, Dan Botwe had taken exception to what it described as the reckless breach of professional ethics by media organizations which picked stories from the Internet.

The Statesman, also perceived to be the mouthpiece of the ruling government also did not engage in many corruption stories and its style was like the Daily Guide.
The state-owned Daily Graphic, however seemed to have engaged in more corruption exposures as it reported the highest number of specific cases during the period under study. In fact the majority of its stories related to corruption in the public/civil service with a few political corruption stories which were not specific exposures.

The rest of the stories related to the private sector as well as other general corruption stories or feature articles of corruption on Africa.
When the issue about the President’s acquisition of the hotel came up, for instance, the Graphic played it ‘diplomatic’ by not wading into the storm until later when there was the need to embarked on some ‘damage repair’ activities by giving prominent attention to some stories.

* Were the stories serious attempts to root out corruption or not?
*What was the effect of these exposures with regard to public attitude, legislative reform, and/or judicial administrative action?
Although corruption stories carried by the papers over the period fell under general and specific cases the specific cases constituted just a tip of the iceberg. But they created the awareness and heightened public sensitivity that corruption is rife in Ghana. They also sent the signal that something should be done about the canker and that is where the general stories came to play. The stories were recipe for early morning radio discussions across the country during which listeners contributed to phone-in programmes.
Ghana, according to Transparency International (TI), was ranked 65 amongst 159 voluntary countries which were included in its 2005 Corruption Perception Index (CPI) with a score of 3.5 out of 10, although a drop from the 2004 figure of 3.6.
According to the TI findings, the Ghanaian police and Customs Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS) were more corrupt than political parties and that the 10 most corrupt sectors with scores of five being exceedingly corrupt were police (4.7), CEPS (4.2), political parties (4.1), legal system/judiciary (3.8), utilities (telephone, electricity and water) (3.7), tax revenue agencies (3.7), education system (3.5), business/private sector (3.2), registry and permit service (3.1) and the media (3.1). And it was obvious from the report that corruption affects the political life than the business environment or respondents own life.
However an analysis of the TI corruption index vis-à-vis the media reportage on corruption seems to suggest a different picture because there was no such correlation in the stories published and the report.
What may account for this disparity could be the methodology and respondents used by the TI in its report; mainly the business community and investors who deal and relate directly with these institutions in their everyday activities. This argument is partially shared by Daniel Batidam, Executive Director of the Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII); the local chapter of TI when he said the survey reflected the perceptions of business people, academia and risk analysts. The GII engages in advocacy and public awareness/education on anti-corruption and good governance. It also has a mutual relationship with the media.

Furthermore it can be said that the press basically tasked itself with exposing only political corruption to the detriment of petty corruption or corruption within the security services as revealed by the TI report.

This shortfall notwithstanding it can be said that the media stories on public corruption have been very helpful on the incidence of corruption. For instance as has been stated already it engenders public perceptions and actions and creates a forum for public discussions which somehow influences people’s choices in political participation, particularly general elections. Some Members of Parliament were believed to have lost their seats because of media allegations of corruption against them. During the last general elections, for instance, a NPP MP and Minister, Alhaji Moctar Bamba was believed to have lost because of serious media allegations of corruption against him. He was alleged to have engaged in illegal car deals among others. It must be noted that during his vetting by Parliament for ministerial position there were doubts about his academic credentials but he got the nod eventually. And so when the deals were uncovered the media and his political opponents used it to his disadvantage leading to his defeat in the parliamentary elections when he sought for re-election. This could also explain why maybe he was not appointed to any ministerial position the next time.

Because of the media stories on corruption the general perception had been that politicians are corrupt and that everybody enters politics to amass wealth. This has created a bad image for politicians who are perceived as caring only for their stomachs.
Most of the corrupt practices concerning public/civil servants were prosecuted but those which involved government functionaries have always been brushed aside, except political opponents, with the explanation that adequate evidence had not been provided. Former government functionaries were readily investigated and prosecuted for alleged corrupt practices committed while in office. This has been the trend throughout Ghana’s political history since independence. Political opponents have always been perceived as corrupt by their successors.

In most instances governments set up commissions to investigate their officials accused of corruption but nothing came out of that and particularly during the PNDC regime. For this reason many people find the Justice Abada Committee of Enquiry set up by the Attorney General to investigate allegations of wrongdoing on the part of the Director of the Ghana Law School, Mr Kweku Ansah-Asare as a face saving gimmick by the NPP government to find a scapegoat since serious allegations against ministers had been ignored by the President who asks anybody with any such allegations to go to the police to report them.

One then wonders the essence of the Office of Accountability set up by the President in the Presidency.
It is worthy to mention that at the time of writing this paper, the CHRAJ had begun hearing into allegations of corruption leveled against the Minister of Road, Dr Richard Anane when he was the Minister of Health. He is alleged to have caused financial loss to the state through some payments he made to his foreign wife.

President J.A. Kufuor, according to a story by the Daily Graphic had submitted himself to the CHRAJ for investigations into the allegation made against him over the use of state resources for private gain. Maybe this is an attempt by the President to save his name and that of his government in the face of statements attributed to him that his government was not corrupt and that corruption had been a time tested tradition since the time of Adam, the first man created by God. President
Kufuor was reported to have said that his government's policy of zero tolerance for corruption was not mere rhetoric and at the behest of CHRAJ he asked his lawyers to respond to questions raised by the Commission in respect of the allegation. In July 2005, CHRAJ announced it was investigating the matter to find out if undue process had been exerted in the acquisition of a hotel by the President's son, Chief Kufuor (cf Daily Graphic, 30/1.06).

In fact events preceding the national congress of the ruling party, especially revelations by the party Chairman, Harona Eseku, alluding to the taking of kickbacks to projects at the Presidency dealt a serious blow to the President’s slogan of zero tolerance for corruption coupled with the President’s own statement that anybody with information on corruption against his government must come up with the proof or hold their peace.

It is believed that the NPP Chairman who was contesting to retain his position at the recently held party congress would have lost if he had not withdrew from the contest at the last minute because he ‘opened’ his mouth unnecessarily too wide.

Politicians also try to use the media either to serve their people as well as exposing wrongdoing by their opponents or defending themselves with it. Journalists who expose wrongdoings and corruption on the part of some government officials have relied on rival politicians.  When the government was about to contract a huge loan from the International Financial Corporation (IFC) the transaction was stopped when the opposition minority fed the media with information that the source was dubious. 

It is for the reason that some politicians use the media to defend themselves that some of the stories which had not been used at all are later written to repair the damages caused by the other papers. Of course, some of the politicians also own some of these independent papers. Rumours have circulated in Ghana that there are even some journalists who are on the payroll of certain politicians and such journalists go all out to libel or malign their ‘masters’ opponents.

The media and anti-corruption agencies such as the CHRAJ, SFO and even the police have some kind of a mutual relationship in which the latter relied on the former for information and the former using the latter to send out information they want to get to the public. Maybe it for this reasons also that the media did not consider the police as a target of corruption.

To test the mandate of the SFO over the hotel Kufuor saga, for instance, the Daily Graphic interviewed the Office which stated that it had no mandate over the issue since the transaction was not financial loss to the state. “The mandate of the SFO is to investigate cases of fraud that caused financial loss to the state and agencies such as the police could take it up”, an Assistant Director of Investigations told the Graphic (cf Daily Graphic May 25, 2005 pg 1).





CHAPTER FOUR

9. The media’s role in curbing corruption

This chapter deals with how the media can effectively combat corruption. The media's role in curbing corruption is complex but this is not to say that the task is insurmountable. It is useful to look at many aspects of how the media works, media ownership, the pay of journalists, the newsroom budgets for investigative journalism, and also at bribery within the media.

The success of the media's anti-corruption work also depends largely on non-media developments such as embracing the existence of press freedom laws, fair and strong judges, courageous public prosecutors and the overall development of an environment that permits the media to serve as an effective public watchdog.

In an environment whereby the media is not free from governmental control and censorship it is difficult for media practitioners to do their work. People will fear for their lives in releasing information to journalists who will themselves be afraid to publish because of the repercussions. This aside the media should be relentless in their exposure of corruption because they are the most effective weapon to controlling the canker.

Ayittey (2000) said the media exposure of the problem is the most effective resolutions to fighting corruption in Africa. According to him, this is normally done through the media (newspapers, magazines, radio and TV), public for a (conferences, seminars, workshops and speeches), and by civil society. (That is the business of intellectuals, journalists, editors and writers. Maybe, the argument by Ayittey is given meaning by the Ghanaian proverb which literally translates that ‘if you make public your disease you are likely to find a suitable diagnosis’.

Exposing corruption will be impossible when there is censorship, brutal suppression of dissent, and state ownership or control of the media.
Ayittey, for instance, suggests that to solve the problem of corruption in Africa, the first step is to take the media out of the hands of corrupt and incompetent African governments. This is a far situation in Ghana.

Journalists who expose corrupt practices should not be the target of government officials and politicians. To make their work more fulfilling it should be incumbent on the public authorities to take up the issues raised and act upon them. Those which have ample basis for indictment should be pursued and the courts should also be fair and courageous in handling the cases to serve as deterrence to others.
In addition, it is required that the media is assisted in this task by the whole community since investigative reporting hinges on collaboration and as Terttu Utriainen, Professor of Criminal Law at the University of Lapland, Finland says “When the media are working well to prevent corruption, they employ investigative journalism to reveal inequities, and violations and, in an educational sense, reinforce social values that reduce the incidence of corruption in government and business”. He argues that in making their case against corruption and trying to shape public opinion to pressure the government, the press relied on the opinions of community leaders, NGO heads, religious leaders and party officials, among others.

In order to allow for the free release of information and also to prevent speculations and sensationalism there is need for Whistle Blowing and Freedom of Information laws to be passed to check any abuses in the system and also to compel people to give out information. In this way, the interest of whistle blowers will be protected.

Anti-corruption agencies such as the police, SFO, CHRAJ and the judiciary, which assist the media to function effectively, should all be empowered in order for them to embark on their duties since that could not be left on the shoulders of the media alone. It is for this reason that one agrees with Bright Blewu, General Secretary of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) that the government should expedite action on the passage of the Freedom to Information Act to facilitate public access to information about its activities.

Charity, it is argued, begins from home and for this reason media institutions should put their houses in order before tackling the issue of corruption in the society. Adequate budgetary allocations should be made available to journalists to enable them to embark on investigative journalism since it is an arduous task which requires a lot of time and resources for one to move on. It is only when this happens and budgets are made available in the news rooms for this purpose that journalists may resist the temptations of taking inducements or bribes to kill stories. Coupled with this should be a good pay and incentives packages for journalists.

The independent media has a crucial role to play as far as corruption is concerned and it is relevant that the independent media should be fair and not align themselves with any political party or figure. The situation whereby most journalists do not distinguish between politics and journalism and take very entrenched positions with various political parties is dangerous and will not augur well for the fight against corruption.

Amos Safo, Editor of the Public Agenda corroborates the point above when in an article on advocacy journalism he quoted Philip Meyer (2003) that in some countries, journalists have grown so close to their government and corporate sources that their reporting resembles a conversation among powerful insiders more than an effort to watch over government and business on behalf of citizens. According to Safo, Meyer adds that media consumers are often overwhelmed by the amount of information in the mainstream media; information which in many cases simply assault their senses but does little else. “Anyone could simply open the pages of some so-called newspapers such as The Ghanaian Democrat, the National Democrat, The Ghana Palaver, The Lens etc and the wisdom of Meyer’s argument would make sense”, he adds.



10. CONCLUSION

It must be pointed out that what the media publishes is not the truth and might be just a tip of the iceberg; it creates a lot of awareness and put to test the mandate of the various anti-corruption agencies prompting investigations by official agencies. This view is corroborated by Rick Stapenhurst that even if it usually does not result in the ouster of a public official or bureaucrat, hard-hitting reporting sometimes provides the initial seed that prompts official bodies to launch formal investigations of their own (World Bank Institute)

Sometimes too, he said, journalists stories can play critical role in reinforcing the effectiveness of the public anti-corruption bodies- even when the stories in question are not, strictly speaking, investigative reports that reveal wrongdoing of some kind.
In the case of Ghana, for instance, when the ‘hotel Kufuor’ issue came up the SFO stated that it did not have the mandate to investigate the matter. However, the CHRAJ took up the issue and in October the CHRAJ boss Ms Anna Bossman was reported to have told journalists that its initial report on the matter was ready and when finalized it would be made public (cf Daily Graphic October11, 2005).

While admitting that the Ghanaian media had done appreciably well by ensuring accountability some of the issues raised could be exaggerated and as the Ghanaian Chronicle, December 1, 2005 reported the General Secretary of the GJA, Bright Blewu, “wholeheartedly admitted that the way corruption issues continue to be splashed about in the media is sometimes agonizing”. According to him, it gave one a false sense of increased corruption in our society, and this might not necessarily be the case.

To him, the increased coverage of corruption may be a result of the freedom of speech and decriminalization of it. This role of the media is in line with not only the constitutional responsibility to hold governments accountable to the people, but also in response to public demand for transparency under the current political dispensation.

While it must be said that the press did appreciably well in their fight against corruption they lack adequate technical capacities.  The private press has great prospects but quite a number of its outlets have a very weak production base and are therefore not able to give of their best.  They are burdened with high cost of production and inadequate advertising. With the low level of the average Ghanaians purchasing power, publishers are not able to sell as many of their newspapers as they would like to and this has also accounted for why some of the newspapers have intermittent short span on the news shelves. Some also cannot come out regularly due to technical problems.

It was clear that the state-owned Daily Graphic did not carry many reports relating to specific political corruption and where it waded in the mud that was the result of follow-ups to sort of rest the matter. This is not to say that the paper operated under any pressure or influence from the executive. The paper did exceptionally well in exposing corruption in the public/civil service.
Since the repeal of the Criminal Libel Law in Ghana private papers had been courageous enough to expose corruption and because journalists cannot be sent to jail for any lapses, those people who think they had been maligned through libelous stories often resorted to the courts to seek exemplary damages which many of the papers involved found it difficult to pay.

In spite of that journalists should engage in serious advocacy journalism in order to improve the community’s capacity to act on the news. They should not be threatened and since they use a measure of good sense about what they report on their employers and superiors and even the public will support them.
Media institutions should always make financial commitment to enable investigative journalists embark on their work.
It will be important that the anti-corruption agencies and the government also act on corruption stories published by the media. Since corruption scandals frequently involve government procurement of goods and services anti-corruption reforms should not only aim at reducing malfeasance but also improve its efficiency of purchasing decisions. Although the passage of the Public Procurement Act and the Financial Administration Act is in the right direction they will have the needed bite to control corruption in the public sector if the government remained transparent in all official transactions. This will go along way to boost public trust and confidence in the government.

























11. References:

Amnesty International (1996): Annual Report.

Asibuo, S.K, (1991): The role of anti-corruption agencies in the fight against corruption –The case of the Serious Fraud Office.

Ayee, J. R. A. (1994): A Decade of Public Accountability under the PNDC Government in Ghana, Research Review 10 (1 and 2).

Ayittey, G. B. N in: Hope, Sr, Kempe Ronald and Chikulo Bornwell. C. eds. (2000): Corruption and Development in Africa, Lessons from country case studies, Antony Rowe Ltd, Wiltshire.

Austin, Dennis (1970): Politics in Ghana 1946-1960, Oxford University Press, London

Burnham, David (1977): The role of the media in controlling corruption, Criminal Justice Centre Monograph # 3.

Cockcroft, Laurence (October 1998): Transparency International working paper, Berlin.

Cyril Fijnaut and Leo Huberts (2002): Corruption, Integrity and Law Enforcement, Kluwer Law International.

Hope, Sr, Kempe Ronald and Chikulo Bornwell C. eds (2000): Corruption and Development in Africa, Antony Rowe Ltd, Wiltshire

 Johnston, Michael (2005): Syndromes of corruption: Wealth, power and democracy, Cambridge University Press

Jones-Quartey, K. A. B (1974): A summary history of the Ghana Press (1822-1960), The Ghana Information Services Department.

Karikari, Kwame: in Ninsin, Kwame A ed. (1998): Ghana: Transition to Democracy, CODESRIA Book Series

Le Vine, Victor (1975): Political corruption: The Ghana case, Hoover Institution Press, Stanford University, California.

Maus, Marcel (1967): The Gift translated by Ian Cunnison, W. W. Norton, NY.

Meyer P. (2003): Public Journalism and the Problem of Objectivity.

http://www.unc.edu/~pmeyer/ire95pj.htm

Ninsin, Kwame A. ed. (1998): Ghana: Transition to Democracy, CODESRIA Book Series

Nkembo, Edward Jorgrucs Kassanga (2003 MA Thesis), Corruption in the Public sector in Tanzania: An assessment of the government efforts against corruption under Nkapa regime

Ocquaye, Mike (2004): Politics in Ghana 1982 – 1992, Tornado publications, Accra.

Rose-Ackerman (1999): Corruption and Government- causes, consequences and reform, Cambridge University Press

Shaidi, Leonard Paul (1975): The problem of corruption in Tanzania, LLM theses to the University of Dar es Salaam.

Stapenhurst, Rick, (Internet material): The role of the media in curbing corruption, World Bank Institute working paper.

Syed Hussein Alatas (1968): The Sociology of corruption, the nature, function, causes and prevention of corruption, Donald Moore Press Ltd, Singapore.

Syed Hussein Alatas (1990): Corruption: Its nature, causes and functions, Gower Publishing Company Ltd, England.

United Nations (1988): International Bill of Human Rights (40th Anniversary Publication), New York

United Nations (1996): International Anti-Corruption Confab, Collected Works, Hong Qi Publishing House.

Warioba Commission (1996): Country Report on the State of Corruption in Tanzania,
Dar es Salaam.







































PAGE 28


PAGE 1