Ghana falls in 2024 Corruption Perception Index, scores 42

• Posted on February 11, 2025February 11, 2025
• by Nana Kwesi Coomson
• Comment

Ghana’s standing on the global Corruption Perception Index (CPI) has seen a slight decline, with the country dropping from a score of 43 to 42 in the 2024 rankings.

Ghanaian-themed art

This was revealed in a press release issued on February 11 by the Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII), the local chapter of Transparency International.

According to the report, “Ghana has scored 42 out of a clean score of 100 in the CPI 2024, ranking 80th out of 180 countries and territories assessed in this year’s report released by Transparency International (TI). This marks a decline from Ghana’s score of 43 in 2023, signaling a setback in the country’s anti corruption efforts.”

The GII noted that since 2015, Ghana has experienced a gradual but concerning decline in its CPI score, dropping five points over the past decade.

The trend, as illustrated in Transparency International’s data, suggests that despite the implementation of various policy interventions and institutional reforms, the country continues to face significant challenges in effectively tackling corruption.

The GII explained that “since 2015 (a 10-year trend as depicted in Chart 1), Ghana has dropped 5 points on the CPI, reflecting persistent challenges in tackling corruption despite various policy interventions and institutional reforms. The decline suggests that the policy, legal and administrative reforms require further review and strengthening.”

In light of the decline in CPI ranking, the GII has put forward several recommendations to enhance the country’s fight against corruption and improve governance structures. These include key legislative, judicial, and executive reforms.

GII recommended that “Parliament should enhance its financial oversight responsibilities by empowering the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) with enforcement authority and establish the Budget and Fiscal Analysis Department (BFAD). This will enhance fiscal discipline and prevent the mismanagement of public funds.”

It is also calling on the judiciary to “establish a specialised anti-corruption court to handle corruption-related cases with speed and efficiency like in the case of Tanzania” and also urged the executive to “prioritise the passage of the Conduct of Public Officers’ Bill to strengthen the legal framework on asset declaration, conflict of interest, and sanctions for non-compliance.”

Click here to read the full report.