Your research findings are heavily challenged – IGP responds to CHRAJ, GSS, UNODC survey

The Inspector General of Police, Dr. George Akuffo Dampare has responded to the research finding by the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice(CHRAJ), Ghana Statistical Service(GSS), and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime(UNODC) that has described the prevalence of corruption as being highest among the Ghana Police Service.

Police officers have been found to be the highest takers of bribes in the latest survey on corruption by the Ghana Statistical Service, and other institutions.

The survey ranked police service officers at 53 percent, followed by Ghana Immigration Service officers at 37.4 percent and Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) Customs Officers at 3.6 percent.

”When comparing the contact and bribery prevalence rates, it becomes evident that although only one-fifth of adults had contact with police officers in the 12 months prior to the survey, around half of them had to pay a bribe to, or were asked to pay a bribe by, a police officer. This is in stark contrast with health care officials in public hospitals and clinics, in relation to whom, despite a high contact rate (60.2 percent), the prevalence of bribery is comparatively low, at 7.9 percent,” the report stated.

The report titled, ‘Corruption in Ghana: Peoples experiences and views’ launched on July 20, 2022, was co-produced by the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), the Ghana Statistical Service, and with support from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

According to the authors of the report, the survey is the first comprehensive, nationally representative population survey on corruption in Ghana. The fieldwork involved a survey of 15,000 respondents across the country, in all regions and in both urban and rural areas.

However, in a 5-page response, the IGP has noted that the said research and its findings are heavily challenged and corrupted academically and in practice.

Even though he emphasized the Police Service’s long acknowledgment of the involvement of some of its officers in corrupt practices, he noted that his outfit should have been engaged by the researchers for their input as to what the service is doing to deal with that.

Additionally, the IGP bemoaned the use of a selective ranking methodology by the research institutions to project the outcome in a manner that puts an unfair focus on the police service while all the others were allowed to escape public scrutiny.

Dr.Dampare, per the response, elaborated on some concerns about his outfit, stemming from the research finding, and duly called for a response from the three institutions.

Firstly, he noted that the research did not cover certain public institutions such as the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority

Also, he observed that two of the three institutions that carried out the survey(CHRAJ and GSS) were also not scrutinized for the survey.

Additionally, some institutions like Ghana Revenue Authority, per the statement, were disaggregated into components.

Moreover, different institutions were combined by the research institutions as one entity example prosecutors were added to Judicial Service.

The statement also observed that even though there are three organs of government, the research focused mainly on the Executive and another institution also named Executive.

Further to the above, the statement cautioned about the continuous empirically and scientifically unsubstantiated labeling of the Police Service which rather damage its reputation and dampens the morale of its personnel.