The United Nations (UN) revealed the top bribe-taking institutions in Ghana following a survey done in the country for 2021.
The Lands Commission, a division of the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, is the organization in Ghana that accepts the most bribes, with an estimated bribe size of 1669.
The legal system—prosecutors, judges, and magistrates—came after the commission and recorded an average bribe size of 1,204.
With an average bribe size of 950, employees of the Ghana Immigration Service ranked third on the list of public officials in Ghana who take the most bribes.
Local government representatives came in fourth place, followed by GRA customs officers in fifth, Passport agency employees in sixth, teachers, lecturers, and professors in seventh, public utility employees in eighth, doctors, nurses, and midwives in ninth, and DMV officials in tenth.
The survey also revealed that the majority of these organizations accept or seek bribes in 70 to 97 per cent of the public services they provide.
Also, the Oti Region was the region that had the most requests for bribes with public officers taking or asking for bribes in over 91 per cent of their duties; followed by Northern Region (89.2%), Upper East (83.4%); North East (81.2%); Upper West (80.3%) and Ashanti (70.4%).
A vice president of IMANI Africa, Bright Simons, who shared portions of the survey on Twitter, on Sunday, August 13, 2023, stated that the UN data showed that “Teachers and professors in Ghana are the most polished when taking bribes; they tend to avoid cash the most”.
