The Executive Director of the Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII), Mary Addah, is proposing the establishment of a confidential, proactive, and accessible complaint system for reporting bribery cases.
This comment comes after JoyNews’ investigations uncovered how customs officials take bribes to allow traders to transport smuggled goods from neighbouring countries to the country’s local markets.
These officials take bribes ranging from ¢20 to ¢200 to allow these traders who have evaded paying taxes on their goods to get off the hook.
Speaking on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show on July 29, she said there is a need for a trustworthy complaint system where people can report issues confidentially and expect solutions.
“When people who have lamented and complained have issues and they know that this mechanism can be trusted, it is confidential and they know that they will make their complaints and get solutions to them, then they would do so.”
“So we have proposed the toll-free line that we use for the advocacy and legal advice centre to the customs division”.
She also stated that there have been efforts to train customs officials and improve their integrity.
According to the Executive Director, if the system is implemented, the only reason people might think they can evade consequences is when they believe their actions are protecting the country.
“Those who are protecting the country will know that if they try, they will be caught and when they are caught, they will be sanctioned heavily. I believe they have a unit that is dealing with that. So if we are successful with this, we will see a lot of changes.”
“When people get sacked for the 20 cedis they take, then their friends would be thinking twice before taking any such action in the future. So reporting whistle-blowing effectively and also ensuring there is great compliance, and those who are guilty are taken through the process to get punished in the courts, I believe that is the only way we can deal with this,” she said.
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