Corruption has become a household word and discussed everyday by politicians, journalists,
government officials and the citizenry, on radio and television stations and the print media. In Ghana the perception of corruption among the people is very high to the extent that the Provisional
National Defence Council (PNDC) government which assumed the reins of power on 31st December
1981, established institutions such as the Citizens Vetting Committees and Public Tribunals to fight
relentlessly, individuals and organisations perceived to have engaged in corrupt activities. With the return to constitutional rule in January 1993, successive governments have tried in one way or the other to fight corruption. Institutions like the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative
Justice (CHRAJ), Serious Fraud Office (SFO), now called the Economic and Organised Crime Office
(EOCO) and National Procurement Authority (NPA) have been established by Parliament to help
combat the menace of corruption. The New Patriotic Party (NPP) government under the leadership of President J. A. Kufuor came up with the maxim, “Zero Tolerance” for corruption. In spite of these efforts, corruption practices seem to be on the ascendancy in Ghana. For this reason, the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) in November/December 2015 undertook a Corruption Survey to unearth the nature, level, causes, and motives behind corruption in Ghana. This report presents the findings of the 2015 Corruption Survey which examined in detail (i) the nature of corruption; (ii) the most common forms of corruption in Ghana; (iii) corruption levels in Ghana; (iv) factors causing corruption in Ghana; and (v) the most corrupt institutions in Ghana.
