The Ghana Police Service and the Office of the President are the most perceived corrupt institutions in the country according to the latest Afrobarometer study report.
The study, undertaken by the Ghana Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana) found that the Police Service scored 65 per cent placing it at the top of the chain while the Presidency followed in second place with 55 per cent.
The report also placed Members of Parliament (MPs) as the third corrupt group with a score of 54 per cent.
Judges and magistrates, tax officials and the Electoral Commission followed suit in that order.
Study
The study bothered on democratic governance, trust in institutions and corruption.
It sampled nationally representative respondents of adult citizens selected at random.
The sample size of 2,400 people was distributed across regions/states/provinces and urban/rural areas in proportion to their share in the national population.
Fieldwork for Round 9 in Ghana was conducted from 4th to 20th April, 2022.
Trust
According to the report, trust in the Presidency declined also by 25 per cent between 2019 and 2022.
Meanwhile, the Ghana Armed Forces, religious and traditional leaders, and the courts were the most trusted institutions in Ghana.
This comes on the back of another survey conducted by the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) and the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ)which placed the Lands Commission officers, prosecutors, judges or magistrates and immigration officers as the top three categories of public officials who received the largest cash bribes paid in 2021.
The survey is dubbed, ‘2021 Ghana Integrity of Public Services Survey’.
According to the report, the average highest cash bribe [GHc1, 669] was paid to Lands Commission officers, followed by prosecutors, judges or magistrates with an amount of GHC 1, 208 and GHC950 for immigration officers.
By Jamila Akweley Okertchiri