Endemic corruption in Ghana: designed and sustained by citizens

Gods always behave like the people who make them. Thus spake Zora Neale Hurston, the pre-eminent author and famous member of America's Harlem Renaissance cultural movement. And she should know, for she was one of the foremost anthropologists of the last century. In other words, the leaders we choose behave the way we "make" them, not so much as in what we "allow" them to do, but more like how we "create" them, and the purpose for which we elevate them to positions of power and influence. If our leaders are corrupt therefore, then it is the way we have fashioned the offices they occupy and the job description they are to fulfill.

According to Ghana Integrity Initiative (the Local Chapter of Transparency International) Ghana ranks 64th among 176 nations this 12th year of the 2nd millennium judging by our "perceived levels of public sector corruption" when measured against such "core values as Integrity, Transparency, Accountability, Independence, Impartiality, Objectivity and Cooperation". This basically means that it isn't a taboo quite yet for public officials to require inducements in order for them to do what we have asked them to do.  

Some local analysts may find 64th out of 176 sort-of decent; after all, trailing far behind us are such formidable countries as Nigeria, Kenya, and Russia; followed by the not-so formidable ones like Guinea, Cambodia, Guinea Bissau, and Eritrea; followed by the rather pathetic Somalia (but in all fairness, they have been at war these past few generations). In energy/manpower-wealthy Nigeria, the problem of corruption is so endemic that millions of U.S. Dollars are able to naturally spring legs and coolly stroll out of guarded mints in broad day onward to cooler havens where electricity is imported via huge foreign generators made by lesser minds. Hue and cry is minimal. And life goes on. 

Guinea Bissau is so corrupt that China - yes, of all nations - actually gave it millions of Dollars for its people to just calm down so they don't bring other state-sponsored narco-businesses undue visibility. In Eritrea, conscripted "policemen" extort bribes from prisoners to set them free, and then turn around to wring crumbs from free citizens in their pot-holed streets who have to cough up to avoid imprisonment. In nearby Guinea (which ranks 173rd by the way), a government-appointed anti-corruption agency peddles highly coveted positions to the highest bidders. So you can see why some may consider Ghana's position fairly decent. 

Now, just so we are on the same page, let's define "Corruption" Corruption on the Agenda, the Danish group, defines it as "covering a wide range of misuse of entrusted funds and power for private gain". The actual wide range acts of misuse most definitely are unethical but may not necessarily be illegal, given that our regulations are so flexible in translation that Cirque du Soleil contortionists must marvel with twisted limbs at how we keep it going. And it is this gray area between ethics and illegality that pervades everything we do everywhere and affects every choice we make every day. In this region, corruption is so commonplace that it is basically accepted as a way of life. Or maybe it is really a way of life, and I'll attempt to explain why. 

Corruption manifests in multiple ways but it can only exist under a particular structure: for it to thrive, the official system bequeathed by the colonial master has to be submerged under an informal but more potent traditional influence. This makes "connections" between the two worlds essential for normal needs to be met, and for administration of basic processes to happen, thus the thievery, the fraud, the nepotism, the abuse of power etc. One must pay a fare to journey from the informal influence to the formal power in the form of bribing the government official directly or paying a fee to a "connection" (a middle-person who knows someone who knows someone who's related to someone who went to the same school with someone) who then bribes the official. This is made the sadder because we all know the locations of the passport office, the vehicle registration department, the companies advertising for positions to be filled, the educational institutions in need of students, the religious organizations in search of souls to do whatever to (and we are continually bombarded with information regarding the requirements of these establishments through the mass media and by word of mouth), and yet we still need to pay bribes or pay a connection to pass on our applications for processing in a timely manner. In Ghana for instance, as ridiculous as it may sound, one needs to bribe an official or pay a connection for the luxury of carrying out civic duties such as paying taxes! 

So, why does it seem like the state is bent on trying so hard to undermine itself? 

Not so, my compatriots; not at all. It is indeed the Ghanaian citizen who desires it so. In all truth, the informal traditional system of influence was always there - even during colonialism; it never went away. It is the citizen, emboldened these days by nominal political independence, who has designed the parallel systems this way to make room for and formalize the gray area. We know the typical Ghanaian on the street - as far as we can gather from the narcissism on social media - possesses the moral compass of an opportunistic infection and couldn't really be bothered by matters of integrity and principles in any way whatsoever even if her/his life depended on it. While public officials pledge to uphold ethics and the rule of law, our ethically bankrupt citizen doubles down in their adherence to the parallel paradigm. S/he believes in patronage, the notion of groveling before "big" people (perhaps with ambitions of becoming one themselves in the future). 

S/he believes in cutting corners, jumping queues, reaping where s/he has not sown, getting over another (as is exemplified by the narcissistic experiences in local traffic). S/he ensures that someone is appointed a government official but then s/he is the first person to make the official chairperson of the village "development" fundraising durbar expecting them to foot half the proposed project cost. S/he knows full well that the sum of the salaries accruing to the officer for the entire term is insufficient to make this feat possible but s/he expects the officer to make up the difference from "somewhere". Incidentally, the projects never get completed. S/he is the church elder or pastor who gives the "big" person the front pew so that they will help pay for the completion of the manse during their time in office. The money has to come from "somewhere". S/he is the family member or head who whispers suggestions in the already tender ears of the elected leader to "amass all you can get your hands on and save for after-service". She endorses nepotism by demanding that the new boss employ all the drop-outs in their larger clan. Or tribe. 

It is the "ordinary" citizen who continues to feed this endemic system of corruption with a view to benefitting directly or indirectly, today or sometime in the future. Our leaders are only playing the parts we script and direct for them. And they better listen, because if they don't, imagine the quality of their lives after service when they have to live among and frequently meet these irate family members that they "refused to help when they had the power." 

This article is not a sociology treatise, and I am not trying to complicate things with a walk on the murky road of what-done-it (which obviously would range from certain need, patronage culture, opportunity due to inadequate oversight, temptations of xenocentrism, tons of ignorance, selfishness, to, of course, good old simple greed), but these I know: corruption causes more poverty and creates a barrier to the long-term development of the nation; it undermines our infant democracy and the rule of law, and it throws our formal official systems completely out of whack. 

Now, what's to be done? First let us as a people identify what we consider to be 'virtue' as a way of fostering and protecting our collective self-interest, culturally speaking. What must we aspire to? What must we condemn? And when we agree on some things, let us examine the pathology that pushes us to work against our own self-interest. Why are we culturally suicidal? What is the underlying reason that motivates us to constantly glue our foul lips to every "big" person's unprincipled bottom? If we all had inalienable access to basic opportunities to progress, would there still be the need for this chronic sycophancy? 

And then after the psychoanalysis, let us examine the ancient anachronistic shadow system that seems to be more effective than its fledgling official counterpart; must it be developed, tweaked and adopted at the expense of the colonial legacy? In other words, should we formalize corruption like the Western democracies have, euphemistically referring to it as 'lobbying'? What role must culture play in this design? And if gods truly always behave like the people who make them, how much influence must the people have in the design of the new deities? Question, questions. 

First posted 14th December 2012