The Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) has kicked against taking of gifts by public officials for duties performed as it smacks of endemic corruption and bribery in the country.

“Any gift that a public officer receives, which will change his lifestyle significantly is not a gift,” Charles Ayamdoo, Director, Anti-Corruption unit of CHRAJ, stated.

Speaking at this year’s human rights lecture organised by the CHRAJ, in collaboration with Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) in commemoration of the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty on Monday, Mr. Ayamdoo observed that donations given as gifts had sometimes led to corrupt practices in various state institutions.

“We have reduced the levels to such an extent that nothing gets done without a bribe (often disguised as gifts) to public officials,” he observed.

CHRAJ, Mr. Ayamdoo announced, had made recommendations to enhance integrity in Ghana including adoption of a code of ethics for public officers and guidelines as to the circumstances under which public officers might accept gifts.

Giving a lecture on the topic, ‘Anti-Corruption: A Means to Poverty Eradication and Human Rights Promotion’, Mr Ayamdoo said past attempts had failed to successfully combat corruption because “there was weak political will and commitment, low public participation in the efforts to combat corruption and poor enforcement of rules”.

According to him, past efforts to fight corruption had been “piecemeal, adhoc, uncoordinated and difficult to monitor progress”.

Such ineffectual efforts, Mr. Ayamdoo enumerated, included moral crusades, use of commission of enquiry, ‘house cleaning’ strategies, draconian laws, executions and zero tolerance for corruption.

He said unless there was strong political will, backed by huge investment in anti-graft institutions such as CHRAJ and the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO), the fight against corruption would continue to be a mirage in the country.

Corruption, Mr. Ayamdoo recounted, had been one major reason for the change of governments the country had had until 1992 when the nation returned to constitutional rule.

The deepening menace, he observed, had caused and deepened human rights violations in the country through insurrections, coups and counter-coups.

Corruption is commonly understood as the abuse or misuse of entrusted power for private gain and it is manifested in different ways such as bribery and kickbacks for public procurement, extortion of money for services rendered, diversion of public funds, conflict of interest, influence peddling and illicit enrichment.

Other speakers at the programme were Nana Oye Lithur, Executive Director, Human Right Advocacy Centre; and Ebenezer Odotei, Deputy Director, National Development Planning Commission (NDPC).