Godfred Yeboah Dame
Attorney General and Minister for Justice, Godfred Yeboah Dame, has said women are less susceptible to corruption as compared with men.
Speaking at the just concluded 10th Session of the Conference of States Parties to the United Nations Convention against Corruption (COSP 10) in Atlanta, USA, Mr. Dame said research findings indicate that Ghanaian women are less corrupt.
He cited the results of the first actual corruption survey on people’s experiences in Ghana with a sample size of 15,000 respondents from across Ghana, conducted in 2021 by the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) and the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) with technical assistance from United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
Mr. Dame said one unique feature of the survey was the finding that in Ghana, women are less susceptible to corruption than their male counterparts and that, male public officials are twice more likely to solicit bribes than their female counterpart.
The reality, Mr. Dame highlighted, is that men are three times more likely (not twice) to take bribes than women.
Speaking on the topic, “The Power of Gender Equality and Inclusion to Combat Corruption”, Mr. Dame made a case for the empowerment of women as a tool for the fight against corruption.
The Attorney General alluded to specific instances of the empowerment of women in Ghana as a mechanism for transformation of public institutions, efficiency and the elimination of corruption in Ghana.
He noted that the composition of his own ministry, the Office of the Attorney General and Ministry of Justice shows a representation of over 90% women among all state attorneys across the country and the rest being men, and this has led to efficiency and the complete minimisation of corruption in the Office of the Attorney General.
Mr. Dame also stated that when women are given the opportunity to head some public institutions in the country like the Judicial Service, efficiency is injected and corruption is drastically reduced.
The Attorney General noted that it is significant that the first exposé on corruption in the Judiciary of Ghana which led to the dismissal of many judges was carried out in the tenure of the first female Chief Justice of Ghana, Justice Georgina Theodora Wood.
He, therefore, advocated for the promotion and advancement of women in all facets of public life since same has a direct bearing on the fight against corruption.
Mr. Dame stated that drawing from experiences in Ghana, the nation was co-sponsoring a resolution on the gender dimensions of corruption at the UN Conference on Corruption in Atlanta.
He urged all the States Parties to the United Nations Convention against Corruption to wholeheartedly support the resolution when same is brought before the conference.
The resolution has since been carried by the conference.
The high-level panel discussion was moderated by the Executive Director of UNODC, Ghaly Waly and had the Deputy Prime Minister of North Macedonia, Slavica Grkovska, the President of the Caribbean Court of Justice, Adrian Saunders, the President of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Education and Sports of Liechtenstein, Dominique Hasler, the Minister for Public Service and Administration of South Africa, Noxolo Kiviet and Ghana’s Attorney General and Minister for Justice, as members.
Other participants in the panel discussion shared experiences and insights from their respective countries and continents on gender equality and its contribution to the fight against corruption.
By Jamila Akweley Okertchiri