Promoting Public Sector Accountability in Ghana: The Role of Stakeholders

Abstract

For over twenty-four (24) months, the Commission on Judgment Debts and Akin Matters has interacted with a cross-section of the Ghanaian public, made up mostly of public officials, on the issue of court cases mounted against the State and several of its institutions for the past twenty-three years leading to huge judgment debts against the people of Ghana. One of the major issues that came to the fore was Probity and Accountability on the part of public officials in the performance of their official duties for which they are paid from the tax-payers' money. The fact, however, is that one cannot talk about 'Accountability' without the idea of 'Corruption' rearing its ugly head, as the absence of the former nurtures the latter. This paper therefore examines the issue of probity and accountability by critically analysing the position of the law and the reality in the Ghanaian system.

Keywords: Accountability, Probity, Corruption, Public Officials, Ghana