The Attorney-General and Minister for Justice, Godfred Yeboah Dame, has stated at a high-level panel discussion at the just concluded 10th Session of the Conference of States Parties to the United Nations Convention against Corruption (COSP 10) in Atlanta, USA, that research has shown that in Ghana, women are less susceptible to corruption than men.

The high-level panel discussion was moderated by the Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Ms. Ghaly Waly and had the following as members: the Deputy Prime Minister of North Macedonia, Ms. Slavica Grkovska, the President of the Caribbean Court of Justice, Hon. Adrian Saunders, the President of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Education and Sports of Liechtenstein, Ms. Dominique Hasler, the Minister for Public Service and Administration of South Africa, Ms. Noxolo Kiviet and Ghana’s Attorney-General and Minister for Justice.

Speaking under the topic “The Power of Gender Equality and Inclusion to Combat Corruption”, Mr. Dame made a case for the empowerment of women as a tool for the fight against corruption. He cited the results of the first actual corruption survey on people’s experiences in Ghana with a sample size of 15000 Respondents from across Ghana, conducted in 2021 by the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) and the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) with technical assistance from the UNODC. One unique feature of the Survey, according to the Attorney-General, was the finding that in Ghana, women are less susceptible to corruption than their male counterparts and that, male public officials are twice more likely to solicit bribes than their female counterpart. In fact, the reality according to Mr. Dame, is that men in fact are three times more likely (not twice) to take bribes than women. This is so even though corruption disproportionately affects women more than men.

The Attorney-General alluded to specific instances of the empowerment of women in Ghana as a mechanism for the transformation of public institutions, efficiency and the elimination of corruption in Ghana. He noted that the composition of his own ministry, the Office of the Attorney-General and Ministry of Justice shows a representation of over ninety percent (90%) women among all state attorneys across the country and the rest being men, and this has led to efficiency and the complete minimisation of corruption in the Office of the Attorney-General. Hardly is the Office of the Attorney-General and Ministry of Justice listed among the most corrupt state institutions in Ghana.

Mr Dame also stated that when women have been given the opportunity to head some public institutions in the country like the Judicial Service, efficiency is injected and corruption is drastically reduced. The Attorney-General noted that it is significant that the first expose on corruption in the Judiciary of Ghana which led to the dismissal of many judges was carried out in the tenure of the first female Chief Justice of Ghana, Justice Georgina Theodora Wood. He therefore advocated for the promotion and advancement of women in all facets of public life since same has a direct bearing on the fight against corruption.

Ghana’s Attorney-General and Minister for Justice stated that drawing from experiences in Ghana, the nation was co-sponsoring a resolution on the gender dimensions of corruption at the UN Conference on Corruption in Atlanta. He urged all the States parties to the United Nations Convention against Corruption to wholeheartedly support the Resolution when same was brought before the Conference.

The resolution has since been carried by the Conference.

Other participants in the panel discussion shared experiences and insights from their respective countries and continents on gender equality and its contribution to the fight against corruption.

KOD