Can We Truly Find a Solution to Ghana's Corruption Problem?

Corruption, as a concept, is widely held to erode government legitimacy and the commitment of political actors and civil workers to serve the public. As a result, several countries are attempting to combat corruption through legislative reform and the establishment of anti-corruption institutions. Ghana, for example, established an Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) in 2018 to provide new chances to combat corruption and strengthen Ghana’s constitution-enshrined accountability. Indeed, some Ghanaians see the OSP as a cure-all for the country’s corruption. However, law reforms and new organisations established to combat corruption frequently fail to provide credible outcomes. Are there any contextual or systemic factors that could affect the OSP’s effectiveness to combat corruption in Ghana? Using a face-to-face qualitative interview, this article examines perceptions of officials in Ghana’s criminal justice and anti-corruption agency. The findings indicated that political interferences and resource constraints are critical elements affecting the OSP’s operation and effectiveness. The most important takeaway from this study is that instead of enacting new laws and establishing new offices, authorities should strengthen existing institutions through adequate resourcing and legal empowerment. Furthermore, a special prosecutor’s office should be established and empowered to deal with corruption without external interference.